The Lingkar Pena writers` forum is a nation-wide organization of Muslim writers whose goal is improving society while honing their writing skills, the US Embassy here said in its official website on Friday.
Members of the forum write articles, essays, short stories and books that extol Islamic values, many of which are found in the everyday life or ordinary Indonesian citizens.
During discussion, many of the aspiring writers were surprised to learn from Dauer and that Muslims can practice their faith freely in the United States and women can wear the Islamic head scarf to state schools (as opposed to some other Western countries.)
All of the 20-25 attendees were eager to learn how they could interact more with the United States, with particular interest in exchange programs to the United States for aspiring writers.
On August 14 at the Cut Meutia Mosque, which is close to the Embassy in Jakarta, approximately 50 members of Cut Meutia Mosque Youth Association warmly greeted Dauer.
As with the interaction with Lingkar Pena, the discussion focused on Muslim life in America.
Many of the students had suggestions about how to make Americans more aware of Islam and Indonesian culture.
They were pleased to learn how much Americans already know about Islamic traditions like Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.
RICMA organizes an extensive range of youth activities that included Indonesia`s first ever Ramadan Jazz festival, held over the weekend.
Both organizations conduct a wide range of activities for youth of poor to lower middle-income families.
The leadership of the Cut Muetia Mosque, was particularly pleased to re-establish contacts with the Embassy saying repeatedly that they were excited to do joint activities with the Embassy and were more than willing to assist the Embassy and its outreach efforts in any way possible.(*)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
