NEWS
Building Character Through Unity: ECCO Foundation Hosts “Ruang Perjumpaan” for High Schoolers
True social cohesion begins when young people are given the opportunity to step outside of their immediate social circles and engage with peers from different walks of life. Recognizing this, ECCO Foundation adapted and executed Ruang Perjumpaan (The Encounter Space), an advanced youth character-building initiative originally formulated by PUSPEKA Kemendikdasmen (The Center for Character Strengthening of the Ministry of Education, Primary, and Secondary Education).
Working in tandem with the Provincial Department of Education and Culture, ECCO Foundation structured this program to offer a protected, neutral, and deeply encouraging space for secondary students (SMA/SMK) to practice intercultural communication, cross-school dialogue, and real-world project collaboration.
From Safe Dialogue to Public Advocacy Forums
The program was specifically designed to move students through an educational trajectory that takes them from basic interpersonal connections to high-level public speaking:
1. Breaking School Silos
The program successfully brought together 61 student leaders from 10 distinct high schools across Mataram. Through facilitated icebreakers and deep communication exercises, students learned to dismantle stereotypes, build mutual respect, and value regional diversity.
2. The Berugak Pemuda NTB Conference
Once trust was established, ECCO Foundation gave students the ultimate platform to exercise their civic rights. Participants stepped into the public eye at the Berugak Pemuda NTB Conference, bravely articulating their policy ideas, structural worries, and community visions directly in front of public officials and media representatives.
Tangible Youth Action
The ultimate marker of success for the Ruang Perjumpaan initiative was the organic formation of 5 cross-school student alliances, which successfully launched targeted field actions specifically aimed at stopping child marriage within their peer networks.
Through this successful implementation of PUSPEKA’s framework, ECCO Foundation proved that character-building programs achieve their highest potential when they combine emotional empathy training with direct pathways to public advocacy.