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span class="inline inline-left">Courtesy of Alanda KarizaLazy, careless, unappreciative: that’s how youth tend to be characterized these days. But Alanda Kariza, a 20-year-old dedicated to making Indonesia a better place who follows through with concrete actions, doesn’t quite fit that stereotype.

A few weeks ago, people couldn’t stop tweeting about a misfortune that took over Alanda and her family’s life. Her many friends showed their support by using the hashtag #HelpAlanda on the microblogging site Twitter, as tweets about her were spreading thick and fast.

It all started when she tweeted her blog post titled Ibu, 10 tahun penjara, 10 milyar rupiah (Mother, 10 years of prison, Rp 10 million). The blog was about her mother who became a suspect in the Bank Century case and was sentenced to 10 years in prison or asked to pay a Rp 10 million (US$1,120) fine.

Instead of being secretive about her family’s situation, Alanda chose to share her side of the story on her
blog, www.alandakariza.com, and revealed how life had not always been easy for her or her family.

Alanda is known in her entourage as a multi-talented and high-achieving woman. Born in Jakarta, she received a full scholarship to study International Business at Binus International University. In 2006 she made it as a finalist for CosmoGIRL! of the year, Ashoka Young Changemakers Awards 2010: Innovation in Clean Water and Sanitation.

She founded with her friends a youth-led social community called The Cure for Tomorrow, which aims to educate young people about environmental issues. In 2009, she was selected for the Global Changemakers Youth Summit and put forward the idea of holding an annual event called the Indonesian Youth Conference (IYC) – to raise youth awareness about various issues during a one-day festival. This year’s IYC will be held on July 16. Besides being a young activist, Alanda has found comfort in writing.

“Through writing I can share my ideas, stories, and hopefully change my and other people’s lives,” she told The Jakarta Post recently. She is an active blogger and has published three books for young readers, namely Mint Chocolate Chips (2005), Vice Versa (2010) and Pertama Kalinya (2010).

When asked what she thought differentiated her from other youngsters her age, she said, “Sometimes I have too much faith in illogical things, such as luck, dreams and the power of mind. Therefore, I think the harder I work, the more luck will come [my way]; yet if I think a dream can come true, it actually will.”

Even though many young people see her as a role model, Alanda simply doesn’t think of herself as one.

“I believe everyone has an obligation and is responsible for their own decisions and actions, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Her own role model is her late grandfather, Moenadjat Wiratmadja, a plastic surgeon and painter.

She has learned the hard way that being a public figure isn’t always easy. Many people have stood up against her and her blunt blog posting. However, she says everyone has a right to disagree with her.

“People are free to voice their opinions, including me, so I have no problem with that. Nonetheless, I try my best to listen to other people’s comments. We have to be better every single day, right?.”

Despite all her achievements, the oldest of two children is still a youngster at heart, who enjoys hanging out with her friends and watching movies during her spare time.

With her motto “believe in dreams and strive to make them come true”, she is definitely a passionate dreamer who isn’t afraid making “all” of her dreams come true.

These dreams include setting up a food and beverage business, running a commercial website, getting a scholarship abroad for her Master’s degree and traveling around the world.