Unity in Diversity
Foreign exchange student from Indonesia with a kindergartener wearing traditional batik during International Education Week
A Laquey kindergartener shows off her batik with Muhamad

The meaning of "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" 

The cultures, languages, nature, legacies—down to people’s specific facial characteristics—are all different throughout Indonesia. All of this also applies to people all around the earth. For this reason, during International Education Week I came up with the idea of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) as a big theme for sharing information in my presentations.

I talked about cultural differences which was interesting to my classmates. So, what is actually Bhinneka Tunggal Ika? Well, this is a motto from the national emblem of my country, which is called the Garuda Pancasila. This motto is a founding principle of the modern Indonesian nation, which declares the essential unity of its members despite ethnic, regional, social, or religious differences.

—Muhamad (YES, Indonesia), hosted by the Nelson family (MO)