Ramadhan phase is one of the events that we eagerly awaited and not letting it passes by. Usually, we love to gather to break the fast or iftar with family and friends. Therefore, XL Future Leaders initiated to celebrate Ramadhan that will strengthen our bond as a big family with an event called BEKASI CERAH. Yes, we may take that name literally but it actually stands for Berkreasi Ceria Ramadhan – which delivers a good message of having a great time being creative during Ramadhan and increase our tolerance as in such diverse society.

This event was basically a gathering to break the fast among us. However, as XLFL students, we were supposed to create something different and uphold the social values. That is why we have our special needed friends from Rumah Autis which located in Jatiasih, Bekasi. Flashback from the time before the event was conducted, the committee are formed from XLFL Batch 2 and Batch 3. We voted to decide the participants that fit in our program, and autistic children had the most votes. Children with autism is a special case in society and often rejected because the society misunderstood them. Therefore, we believe that we really need to support them and raise the awareness to understand them through our event.

Through the thinking tools that we have learnt from the workshops, as the Event Team we researched to find out their needs and their dislikes. We consulted with the facilitator and Mrs. Vivi from Rumah Autis so we didn’t misguided. Definitely, we were not alone, committees from other divisions also worked very hard to realized this event. We collected the funds not only from the committee and the generous donors, but also we made postcards of their portraits as a form of supporting them through our event for fundraising. Thank God, with every obstacles that we got through, Bekasi Cerah happened successfully.

As a result, we conducted games station for them that trigger their motions, concentration, and creativity as a form of activity for us to interact and getting to know them closer. Moreover, they were also welcoming us with open hand and their uniqueness.

We also had a sharing session with our special needed friends and their teachers. In fact, they really wanted to speak in front of everyone and they were so confident to speak using microphone because actually, they love to sing. At that moment, we realized that they really want to be more than what they are now. Like there are some boys who shared to us that they wanted to be a policeman and soldier. We also had an ustadzh from Rumah Autis for the kids and us to appreciate the value of life before we finally had our iftar.

It was a very precious experience to spent our day with them. We cherished every single moment and tried our best to create a smile upon their face. Rumah Autis also hoping that we could establish long term relations with them. There are lots of wonderful values for us to reflect ourselves to be more grateful of what we already had and to improve ourselves so we could be better for the society.

*This post was written by Hanna Azulay Hasfari, XL Future Leaders Batch 3 Class Jakarta-2