“The fabric of my life has a story to tell”

When I first joined GFAN, I really felt like I know nothing!

And when I had my first Speakers Bureau training, I still felt I know nothing because my English was not very fluent. But, with the support of the team, I kept on pushing, and, lo and behold, I kept on learning. Maybe I was not very fast, but, I know, I kept learning.Through GFAN trainings my understanding of the Global Fund started becoming better. At the same time, I was also part of the technical working group at the CCM in Indonesia, so I was becoming more aware of how everything worked. Things started to sync-up. And slowly, I also started to understand that I had something to say.

GFAN gave me the golden key to recognition! My network became much wider. When I first joined GFAN, nobody knew me. Then, GFAN published my story and my pictures. My story is still on the GFAN website and YouTube channel. That makes me feel seen and proud.

As a GFAN Speaker I went to Canada to speak with parliamentarians and to Washington, DC, to speak with Senators and members of Congress. These were the experiences I would not have had if I had not joined the Speakers Bureau.

And then, my story took me somewhere I never expected — into a piece of fabric. Into art for advocacy.

The conversation about the Fabric Champions campaign started when we were at the GFAN Annual Strategy Meeting in Ottawa, Canada. Soon after, I was partnered with a designer named Anindhita Raharjo. The way she has designed the fabric for me and wove my story into it was really special. The fabric is really me. It is my representation and my story. It was an unforgettable experience. More so because, in her, I have found a friend. We’ve had similar lives and experiences. She is also a mother and has three children, like me. She also has a child with special needs. So, we shared our stories about bringing up our children.

During the ideation process she asked me about when I started taking medication, my pregnancy, giving birth, and the stigma and discrimination I experienced. As a woman, she understood what I had felt. We live in different cites so we do not see each other often, but we remain in touch. (She has recently designed a movie poster! I am going to watch the movie when it comes to Netflix. )

At the Global Fund Replenishment summit, I suddenly felt like a star. There was a guard here, a guard there, and they opened the way for me to get to the stage. It was really memorable moment for me because on that stage, I got to stand with the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, alongside the other Fabric Champions: Sibulele Sibaca Nomnganga from South Africa, Ivan Molina Aranibar from Bolivia and Nuradeen Zakariyya from Nigeria.

They each had their own story, which was represented in their own piece of fabric. And I, I got to be one of them!

You know, I have always known that the fabric of my life has a story to tell. But now, after being a GFAN speaker and a Fabric Campaign Champion, I truly understand how powerful that can be.

When I started the livelihood training for women affected by TB, we chose to teach them how to make eco-print fabric , I saw another connection between fabric and our experience of going through TB treatment.

Eco-printing takes around two weeks to make. It is a long process. In a way, it is like being on the TB treatment. When you are taking your medication, you have to take a step every day. With eco-printing, you also have to take a step every day.

Sometimes, we struggle. The weather is not good, and the days are difficult. The long process of making the fabric is like the long journey of treatment.

That is why we decided to make eco-print fabric. I do not need to write down my whole story about surviving TB. I can tell the story through the process of making the eco-print. The fabric tells the story.

During my time as the Global Fund Fabric Champion, a woman came up to me and said that my story had moved her deeply. She was also a mother.

I was reminded once again that art can move people.

The fabric, the patterns and the art, be it eco-print or the Fabric Champions campaign, are ways to make advocacy more impactful. Sometimes, when we just use our words, it is not enough. Using art as a tool can have a deeper impact.

Advocacy is not a moment. It is a lifestyle. We do it over and over again. It requires resilience. Art hits you. It moves you. It is a tool for advocacy, and it helps build resilience for advocates. A tool to express themselves and find strength!

When people see the fabric and hear my story, they tell me that they feel what I went through. Some people cry when they see my pattern. They say that maybe they would not have survived if they were in my place.

But I don’t want them to take sadness from my story. There is hope in my story. Here I am and I am resilient.

I am here because of my community, because of the people who have loved and supported me, and because of the investment that the Global Fund has made in Indonesia.

But I am just one life. There are many more lives, and many more stories, many more pieces of art to be uncovered. We must continue to fight and continue to be resilient. Afterall, we are the artists of our own story!