Anthoneta Batuwael, a woman religious teacher, felt a change when she participated in the Training of Press Release Writing activity organized by Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah Ternate in 2023. The woman who is familiarly called Mrs. Neti is a Christian Religion Teacher at SMP (Junior High School) Muhammadiyah 2 Ternate.
The type of change she got apart from her writing skills, was also the courage to express her opinion. “In the beginning, I was a teacher who only taught daily, but every thought and ideas that I wanted to convey, I didn’t dare to convey them. They were only kept in my heart and thoughts,” she said. “After participating in Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah activities several times, I dared to express my opinions and ideas,” said Neti.
According to Neti, the reason that prompted her to change was that she realized that working with people of different religions was fun. “I have a trauma when I meet other people who are Muslim in large numbers if I don’t know them,” she said. “This is because of conflicts in the past. But praise God, after I participated in Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah activities several times, the trauma gradually disappeared,” she added.
As a teacher, she wants to transmit the good changes she feels to her students, friends, family, and the community around her. “I realized that my fears were unfounded and that differences are beautiful,” said Neti confidently. Currently and in the future, Neti wants to always be involved in providing understanding about the beauty of diversity and the importance of maintaining harmony between religious communities around where she lives.
