Volunteering with AIAA

Nama saya Raychill Grail. I am a fourth-year student at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the United States. At UCSC I am in the Department of Community Studies. To describe my program in short, we study the theory and practice of social change. Each student of Community Studies spends 6 months towards the end of their term at university volunteering at a non-profit organization of some kind.

That was the catalyst for my coming to work with the Australia Indonesia Arts Alliance. Although our department at the university is small, Community Studies students are currently all over the world. The things we are doing are incredibly varied. One of my good friends is in New York City making documentaries to raise awareness about the Juvenile Justice system. Another friend is in Chiapas, Mexico working with las Zapatistas, a revolutionary group fighting for Indigenous peoples rights. There are others whose placements are in things as varied as labor unions to women's shelters to schools. But the common bond is that we are striving to learn about the process of social change. How can different organizations affect their communities? How can it relate to raising awareness and qualities of life?

I am focused on how art can be a powerful medium for social change. I feel that there are many ideas which can be conveyed through art, and I feel it has great potential to inspire people to get involved in whatever issue is at hand. Furthermore, it has an incredible capacity to reach across cultural lines and share a level of intensity of experience in which few other things can

I have learned much in my time here at AIAA. There are so many wonderful artists who are here sharing their talents and viewpoints. I have been very honored to meet and talk with such a variety of amazing artists and people involved in the Australian Indonesian community. It is incredibly inspiring to see how people are joining together through various AIAA activities, and it has been such a treat to be a part of it all.

Things have been very busy around here, and I have been working hard. I have been writing for Inspirasi, helping with Byron Loves Bali and helping with the many various tasks that make up our days at AIAA. Judy is teaching me many things, and I'm especially excited about learning to speak Indonesian.

The Australian Indonesian community here in Byron Bay has welcomed me warmly and I am very grateful to be a part of it.