What’s in a name? (1)

 Jamboree, Yes?... No!!.. Yes!!! 

 

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -21st World Scout Jamboree)

Dear friends,

Shakespeare wrote: What's in a name?

 

One day I was driving my friend for a sightseeing trip. He just came from Indonesia for a short visit. I had to stop at a gas station to fill-up. While waiting at the pump my friend exclaimed: "Wow, bahasa Indonesia!" while pointing at the water and air sign where people can get water for their radiator or air for their tires.

I quickly answered: “Oh yes, people here are so friendly."

My American friend who sat behind me was puzzled and asked: “What happen?”

Laughingly I explained the joke to him: “He was surprised to see the word "Air" and wondered why the Indonesian word. Air means Water in Indonesian, and I told him they are nice here to translate Water for you.”

What’s in a name?

The first time I heard “Jamboree KKI” was in Lubbock, Texas, in March 2002, when I attended the first gathering of all KKI in America. Remember in my first posting I explained KKI is Komunitas Katolik Indonesia = Indonesian Catholic Community.

The first KKI national conference in Lubbock was in response to the US Catholic Church recognizing the historical phenomena that could not be denied, that this country consist of immigrants. At that time USA Bishop Conference published a document titled “Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity.” 

KKI felt they need to response to the US Church outreach and the question came up: How can the American Church reach the Indonesian Catholic communities while KKI-s are local or regional, scattered all over the country. There is no national KKI or KKI-USA. To find the answer was one of the reasons to hold the conference.

The year before, in August-September 2001, we saw the first Jamboree KKI USA and Canada. The event was considered and recognized in the Lubbock conference as a successful trial and a forerunner to unite local or regional KKI-s, and it was announced that a second KKI jamboree will be held in Washington. 

Now let’s get back to the question “What’s in a name?”

When at the Lubbock conference I heard “Jamboree,” immediately the name “Boy Scouts” pop up in my mind, but I did not gave any further thought.

Then when  in my earlier post I wrote about KKI America asking the Indonesian Catholic community in San Francisco Bay Area (WKICU) to host the 7^th KKI Jamboree in 2013, again the word “Boy Scouts” pop up in my mind. But this time I started thinking and asking “What is Jamboree?” And like what most people nowadays are doing, I opened Google and started looking what Wikipedia in there says:

According to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, the etymology is "19th century, origin unknown".  Poet Robert W. Service used the term well before the first Scouting jamboree. It appears in the poem "Athabaska Dick" in his Rhymes of a Rolling Stone, which was published in 1912. At the time, the word meant a rowdy, boisterous gathering. (bold and underline by me)

Baden-Powell was once asked why he chose "jamboree". He replied, "What else would you call it?", a response that makes sense if the word already means a boisterous gathering.

Nonetheless, it is popularly believed within the Scout Movement that the word was coined by Baden-Powell. It is said that the word has several possible origins, ranging from Hindi to Swahili to Native American dialects. It is also said that the word is related to corroboree, an Australian Aboriginal term for any noisy, late-night gathering or disturbance. (bold and underline by me) 

Baden-Powell chose the name as rally, meeting and gathering did not fully capture the spirit of this then-new concept. It is said that the name is derived from the Swahili for hello, jambo, as a result of the considerable amount of time he spent in the region. At the first world jamboree at Olympia in 1920, Lord Baden-Powell said "People give different meanings for this word, but from this year on, jamboree will take a specific meaning. It will be associated to the largest gathering of youth that ever took place."

Olave, Lady Baden-Powell, coined the term jamborese to refer to the lingua franca used between Scouts of different languages and cultural habits, that develops when diverse Scouts meet, that fosters friendship and understanding between Scouts of the world. Sometimes the word jamborette is used to denote smaller, either local or international, gatherings

My dear friends,

Let me quote a paragraph of what the 2011 Jamboree KKI committee wrote in the introduction:

Each year Jamboree has a different focus and theme that each of the chosen Catholic Community discerns for and shares with the whole Indonesian Catholic Community.

This event brings the Indonesian Catholic Communities together from all age groups and location in the United States and this gives them a chance to share and learn about the different life and faith experiences. Jamboree has also become an avenue to share moments of grace to share, study, and reflect the richness of God’s love, unity in diversity.

And I asked myself: How “rowdy and boisterous” are all those KKI jamborees as a religious mass gathering with solemn prayers, introspections, reflections, and other rituals?

Oh well, what is in a name?

Indonesian Catholics in USA

Where are they? What are they doing?

Hello my Catholic brothers and sisters in America!

I am Hanafi Daud and live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am a member of the Indonesian Catholic Community in North California, more known by the name of Warga Katolik Indonesia California Utara (WKICU). This year, 2011, is the all-year long 20^th anniversary celebration of the community.

WKICU does not have her own church building and from one Sunday to the next Sunday WKICU wanders like a nomad, holding mass in Indonesian language, first Sunday of the month in San Francisco, second Sunday in Santa Clara and third Sunday in Union City. On the forth (and fifth if there is one) WKICU does not have Indonesian mass. Members are suggested to celebrate mass at their own Parish.

Don’t be surprised if WKICU also does not have permanent Indonesian priest. In all those twenty years WKICU is blessed with having Indonesian priest(s) dropped by the hands of God. Most of them are priests who came from Indonesia for extension study at U.C. Berkeley. And by the grace of God, there are always one or more student-priests in Berkeley who volunteer to serve WKICU community. 

Another great blessing from above is that WKICU always have a nice church building to celebrate Sunday mass, uninterrupted in her 20 years’ journey of Catholic faith.

Dear friends,

WKICU is one of the14 ethnic groups in the Diocese of Oakland’s Department of Ethnic Pastoral Centers but is recently also under the Arch-diocese of San Francisco.

Every year the Diocese of Oakland holds a big one day gathering of the 14 ethnic groups. This is a multicultural festival called Chautauqua, celebrating the diverse peoples of this Diocese 

 

In the morning Chautauqua starts with processions and mass, followed by cultural performances and food & craft bazaar. Photo shows the Indonesian group participating in Chautauqua. 

As far as I know, there are now about 18 local Indonesian Catholic communities in America. Most of the community names use Komunitas Katolik Indonesia (KKI = Indonesian Catholic Community) followed by the name of the state or region, i.e. KKI Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Colorado, DC (Washington DC Metropolitan Area), Houston, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Orange County, Oregon, Philadelphia and San Diego.

Some other communities use the English ICC abbreviation (Indonesian Catholic Community) such as ICC Austin, ICCDFW = Indonesian Catholic Community Dallas - Fort Worth, and ICC Madison Wisconsin.

As you can see, the Indonesian Catholic community in Northern California uses a totally different name (WKICU) also Chicago prefers to use Paguyuban Warga Katolik Indonesia Chicago. Paguyuban means Gathering.

We call the Indonesian Catholics universe in USA Komunitas Katolik Indonesia Amerika (KKIA = Indonesian Catholics in America) but I don’t think there is a physical KKIA umbrella organization.

One regular event organized by KKIA is KKI Jamboree, once every two years. Here’s one KKI Jamboree invitation, but unfortunately you will never be able to participate, even never able to attend… 

“On behalf of the Indonesian Catholic Community of Columbus (under the St. Thomas More Newman Center), we would like to invite you to be part of the Indonesian biennial (once every 2 years) convention in the United States called Jamboree which would be held from 2^nd – 4^th of July 2011.”

The event was held at: Camp Lebanon - 4464 Emmons Road, Oregonia, OH 45036. It was the 6^th KKI Jamboree. KKIA now requests WKICU to host the 7^th KKI Jamboree in 2013.

Well my friends, that are my first reports to answer the question: Indonesian Catholics in USA: Where are they? What are they doing?

You know now where they are, and read about the two big events they are participating; Chautauqua and KKI Jamboree. 

In my next postings I will talk more about the routine and non routine activities of Indonesian Catholics in USA.

If you have your stories or reports what’s happening in the Indonesian Catholic universe in USA, or have comments or questions, feel free to use the comments box below. 

To my Indonesian friends wherever you are. If you have a message, don’t hesitate to write your few lines in the comment box below. If you are more convenient using Indonesian or Dutch language, please do so. 

Thank you for your interest and participation.