My name is Ansel and I am a university student from Perth, Western Australia. I have been studying at UWA and had the privilege of coming to Jakarta, Indonesia as part of the Project Winter Program 2020 with AIESEC at Universitas Indonesia. Through the program, I had the opportunity to volunteer alongside Art for Refuge and gain an insight into their aims toward the empowerment of the refugee community in Indonesia through art.
I alongside the other global exchange participants were given the chance to deliver a presentation on bullying for Art for Refuge to the refugees at some of the various refuge homes in Jakarta. Our presentation was then followed by small art projects like origami lessons for the refugees to which I thought was a great idea to raise the self-expression of all who participated.
Being able to talk to those who run the Art for Refuge program as well as meeting the refugees, I found it enlightening to hear the stories of the various individuals, each with their own personal back-stories. Following the teaching, I went to one of the art exhibitions run by Art for Refuge. Through the exhibition, I got to chat with people from all over the world to discuss opinions toward different topics pertaining to refugees.
At the exhibition, I had the chance to see some of the artwork being sold such as books, listened to music, and hand-crafted items made by the refugees. Overall, I would say I had a great time volunteering alongside the organization; seeing how they focus on promoting self-expression through art and follow their initiative to raise the public’s awareness about the refugee community in Indonesia.