Before news footage from Indonesia started spreading, the world learned about the tsunami from Thailand, where many of the victims happened to be foreign tourists. Two of them were Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova and British photographer Simon Atlee, whose romantic getaway was destroyed when the ocean roared and engulfed them. Petra clung to a tree for hours before being rescued. Simon wasn’t as fortunate.

In the years that followed, Petra Nemcova set up the Happy Hearts Fund (HHF) to rebuild schools in countries affected by the 2004 tsunami. Many celebrities have started charity initiatives, which often seemed like the “pet project of the month”, but I was lucky to catch Petra during her recent Indonesia trip to understand her endeavors better.

The first thing I noted was her sensibility and awareness. While still lying with pelvic injuries on the hospital bed in Thailand, she noticed how children tended to be overlooked after the first responders left. Gratitude for her survival and empathy for less-endowed survivors were the starting kick, yet she followed it up with research and brainstorming with social work experts, conscious of her limitations, before she felt ready to set up the HHF.

From this learning process, an accelerating curve she readily admitted, she identified that education was at the top of children’s unmet needs, as rebuilding team tended to prioritize infrastructure other than schools and because NGOs needed to collaborate for optimum results. “If there’s a need and nobody does it, you start. If someone already does something similar, you join forces, no need to reinvent the wheel” is her simple wisdom.

When I asked about cynicism she may have faced upon launching the HHF — remember what Oprah went through with her schools for girls in Africa? — I got an unexpected answer.

Not only did Petra know early on she had to quickly show measurable results, she was aware of the cynicism possibility to the point of walking away from modeling jobs that required her to pose sexily. Do bear in mind this was the supermodel that shot to stardom through lingerie labels and Sports Illustrated, each bearing a lucrative deal. “It would be hard to speak to and be taken seriously by the United Nations or benefactors if I kept appearing on ads in swimsuits,” she stated frankly. I know some diehard feminists wouldn’t take this answer kindly, but to me that showed another level of consciousness. She set her goal, and she chose her battle.

Since its foundation in 2006, the HHF has rebuilt 171 schools for more than 100,000 children in 10 countries. The fund focuses on rebuilding and equipping schools that existed prior to disasters, and it works with other parties on teaching aspects. It started its activities in Indonesia following the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake.

The Indonesia unit has met plenty of local patrons — enough to set up an independent entity — and is now gearing up to rebuild 200 schools in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), one of Indonesia’s poorest provinces, over the next five years under the “I Am Change” campaign.

The HHF itself recently merged with All Hands Volunteers to become All Hands and Hearts, yet it still considers Happy Hearts Indonesia under its umbrella, with Petra showing goodwill by attending the recent fundraising and campaign launch. After all, as she repeatedly stressed during our interview, collaboration between NGOs is a must. Something that, she sheepishly admitted, was lacking among bigger NGOs in the United States.

It might have started out of a feeling of elation, or the inexplicable “guilt” of having survived such an ordeal. It might have first served as a grief processing mechanism. There was a dimness in her eyes when I mentioned Simon, and she gave me a hug when I mentioned losing close relatives during the same tsunami — but she channeled it all toward helping kids gain education, 13 years and counting.

She uses her fame and networks to spread her cause. She is still a head-turning leggy blonde, but if you let her speak long enough about the projects, or how she went scuba-diving in Thailand just four months after the tsunami to overcome her fear, the face of a survivor is all you see.

That, of course, is a far cry from a certain Indonesian celebrity that caused uproar this week for disrespectful Instagram posts while visiting the Berlin Holocaust Museum. This Indonesian celebrity boasts 171 times more Instagram followers than Petra, but she doesn’t use it beyond flaunting her pricey getups and luxury travels, all the while remaining ignorant and insensitive. With all that money, our celebrity chases fame and refuses to get an education, while the other celebrity uses fame to attract money for providing education.

If you think the second example is better, Happy Hearts Indonesia needs all the help it can get to rebuild those 200 schools in NTT. Get involved.

— Lynda Ibrahim is a Jakarta-based writer with a penchant for purple, pussycats and pop culture.

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