In Indonesia - Cleaning Places of Worship, Cleaning Your Soul

"A group of young people in Jakarta is trying to bring back the religious harmony."

Here at a Buddhist temple, or Vihara, in West Jakarta, some monks are praying in front of the altar.

In the corner there’s a giant statue of Buddha surrounded by red candles.

Recently, a group of young people visited the area…on a mission to clean up the Vihara.

The group is called “Berhati” – an Indonesian acronym which translates as “cleaning up places of worship, cleaning your soul.”

23-year-old Agustinus Ardi Widiatmoko is the group’s leader.

“We tell the staff at each place of worship that we don’t want anything from them in return. We’re not a social organisation, we cannot donate anything... but we want to clean the place. It’s simple: we come, clean, then go home.”

Vihara head, Yusak Li Saputra, was surprised when the group arrived.

“We just gave them some snacks and drinks and they immediately started working. Even if we hadn’t given them anything, they would’ve done it anyway. So I decided to give them some snacks, our kitchen staff made them quickly. I said to them, thank you so much for this. They said they were happy to be welcomed so warmly here. We don’t have many cleaning staff, and all of them are women... they can’t climb up high like they did.”

But that’s not what impressed Yusak the most.

“Not all of them are Buddhist. Some of them are Muslims,” he says.

“There’s a mix of people. They have taught us to respect each other’s place of worship. And they are not religious fanatics… they just came here and cleaned up.”

The Berhati Community doesn’t just clean up Viharas.

They also visit mosques, Hindu temples and churches – like the Cathedral, the oldest and largest Catholic Church in the capital.

Resti Nainggolan, a member of the church staff, still has the gift which was given to her by the group after they cleaned up the place.

“They gave us some t-shirts with the Berhati logo on the front. I asked them, why are you giving us gifts like this…you’ve already cleaned the place? Then they said, it’s a gift, nothing more. No hidden agendas.”

22-year-old university student, Stephani Yuliana, joined the community three months ago.

Since then, she regularly joins the clean ups in different places of worship.

“For me the group has a strong element of tolerance and togetherness. This group is universal, you’re not here because of your ethinicity or religion. That’s why I join here. And we can also cleanse our soul by cleaning up places of worship.”

The community was formed last year.

And so far they have cleaned up more than 150 places of worship in Jakarta and the surrounding area.

They have 80 members now, says the community coordinator, Ardi.

“We sometimes get new members on the spot... where they join us while we’re cleaning up their place of worship. That’s great. Some of them even ask us to let them know of any upcoming cleaning events. We, the young generation, are willing to help. There are many mosques and churches here that need our attention.”

One such “on the spot” recruit, is 23-year-old Anugrah Pandu Satrio who works in an ad agency.

“There was a cleaning event in a mosque, near my house. I was curious… what were they doing? Then I found out that it was a community that cleans up houses of worship. I joined them and asked some questions and became very interested in their mission.”

Every two weeks they go out to a different house of worship and start cleaning.

“We split up. Muslims can clean churches, while Catholics can clean Hindu temples. We don’t decide which house of worship to clean based on people’s religion. We mix it up. We want to show how we can be tolerant of each other’s religions. We want to set an example for others.”

But things aren’t always easy for them...

“Some people ask us which party or company we are from? We understand that they might be afraid that there will be consequences in the future. But we stay positive. If they don’t accept us, then we look for other places. What’s important is that we’ve offered to clean the place, it’s their decision to accept us or not. We appreciate that.”

This year Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, received the World Statesman Award for promoting religious freedom.

But the reality is, there have been cases recently of churches being banned and attacks on minority groups.

Many say the country is failing to protect people’s religious freedoms.

But for Pandu, the Berhati Community has been a real eye-opener.

“I’m a Muslim, I went to Islamic schools, I also went to an Islamic university. But with this community, I’ve learnt not to see people based on their religion or ethnicity. I was once asked, where do you originally come from? I just said yes to wherever they guessed, although in fact I wasn’t. I just want to say that I’m an Indonesian.”

Resti Nainggolan says simple actions like these can help to restore religious harmony in Indonesia.

“We need to encourage tolerance with small steps. This way we don’t have to feel awkward about entering other people’s house of worship. We have to get rid of negative perceptions between religions. When we encourage religious tolerance from an early age, the outcome will be better for the future.”

• Indonesia
• Berhati Community
• religious tolerance
• cleaning places of worship
• Danu Mahardika KBR68H