By Karla Shanley
Karla is an activist and intern with Amnesty International Australia’s campaign for Human Rights-based climate action.
Ela plays guitar in her office and loves eating seafood because it reminds her of home. She grew up in a small Indonesian town, but her passion for environmental rights has taken her all over the world. She even conducted live-in research in a floating village, although she couldn’t swim!
Now, Ela has chosen to join Amnesty’s Climate Campaign, but I wanted to know more about the journey that brought her to climate activism.
Can you tell me where you’re from and how you’ve ended up where you are?
Hello! My name is Rassela Malinda, and I’m from Indonesia. Specifically, a western island of Indonesia, called Sumatra. I say that because most people only know Bali, haha.
I grew up in a small coastal town called Bengkulu. It’s funny because modernisation in Indonesia is defined by whether you have a mall or not. I must have been in junior high school when they built the first mall in my hometown. It was only two floors, but everyone was so excited to try the escalator. So it was a big change when I moved to Jakarta after I graduated.
In Jakarta, I became very active in environmental and women’s NGOs. I am especially interested in agrarian rights – it’s about farming and the social and political connection to land. I did my master’s in agrarian studies in the Netherlands, and right now I am here in Australia focusing on the agrarian rights of the indigenous people of West Papua.
Wow! That is quite a journey. Why did you choose to go down that path?
When I graduated in Bengkulu, I applied to be an ‘Action Researcher’ in a floating village in Kalimantan (Borneo). Action research is where social researchers aren’t just taking data from communities – they also try to organise with that community.
After one month of training, I went to live in that river community for almost two years.
It was crazy because I couldn’t even swim! I think I was young and not afraid, but now I feel like ‘my God, what if I had died?!’.
It was very different, and I didn’t know anyone in that place. But I lived in a floating village. I think that position was a turning point in my life. Because of that experience, I was drawn to the field of agrarian rights. I got a scholarship to the Netherlands and did my master’s in agrarian studies.
What was activism like there compared to in Indonesia?
It was very different in the Netherlands. I was impressed with the activism, but it was very different. In Indonesia, I feel like it’s very close to our lives.
My mum is a rice farmer in Sulawesi, and every year she says that the rice has a worse yield. It’s very difficult now to predict the weather patterns, so the changing climate affects her income.
“In general, climate change is really impacting people’s ability to actually live”
In general, climate change is really impacting people’s ability to actually live. Not just farming but also places like the river community I lived in.
Is that why you joined Amnesty’s Climate Campaign?
I feel like the experiences I’ve had – working with different people and how I grew up – can inform people with different understandings. Look at how the environment and resources are used differently.
That is why I try to share my experience that the context in Indonesia is a bit different. And that the rural context is different also. I think climate activism is important because the people are getting affected.
Ela’s perspective is rich with experience, and her openness makes her incredibly easy to talk to. Despite our different life experiences, Ela and I have so much in common and are excited to make change with the people around us.
If you want to join myself, Ela, and hundreds of other passionate people to change the world for the better, join the Amnesty National Climate Justice Network.
You’ll be part of creating a just, climate-safe future and making interesting friends along the way.
Karla studies International Politics at The University of Melbourne and has a diploma of languages in German. Her international background leads her to believe that the only way to tackle climate change is through global collaboration. She is particularly passionate about green technologies such as solar but recognises that these potentially profitable industries present the opportunity for human rights abuses in the pursuit of profit. To facilitate a ‘just transition’, human rights have to be a part of the discussion.
This article was written by an activist contributor. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Amnesty International Australia.
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