Hivos Director of Operations Sanne Nolst Trenité toured a number of Hivos projects and partners in Indonesia at the end of April until early of May this year. For staff at Hivos Southeast Asia, her visit provided opportunities to meet her and discuss developments important to Hivos with her. Interaction, engagement, inspiration, acceleration and support were recurring themes throughout her visit.
The tour started in Bandung where Sanne met Seterhen “Saska” Akbar from Riset Indie, Hivos Southeast Asia’s partner in the Sustainable Diets for All programme. Riset Indie manages the Bandung Food Change Lab, one of the four Hivos Food Labs. A Food Change Lab is an open space, hub or platform that allows people to co-create innovations that shape a green and inclusive food system.
She then visited Mrs. Nina, the secretary of the Women Work Group (Kelompok Karya Ibu), in Kampung Areng – Lembang, Bandung. The sixteen women in this work group are actively involved in the production of kascing (fertilizer from the dung of worms) and in the breeding of worms using “bio-slurry”, which is the organic fertilizer produced as a by-product of making biogas from animal and human excrement. Both these business activities are thriving.
The production of domestic biogas is a cornerstone of our longstanding renewable energy programme.
On the next day, Sanne visited the Bandung Institute for Governance Studies (BIGS) and Sinergantara in Jalan Batik Jogja, Bandung. Both organizations are grantees of the Making All Voices Count (MAVC) programme, managed by Hivos and two other consortium partners. BIGS received a grant for research and learning about the conception, implementation and impact of ICT Initiatives in the governance sector in Indonesia. Sinergantara is an ‘Innovation and Global Innovation Competition’ winner and has two projects that are part of MAVC: Game My Village, with tools for improving and inspiring villages, and Bumil Risti, towards the reduction of maternal mortality by using SMS technology. During their meeting, Sinergantara showed Trenité how the Game My Village desktop application offers a better visualization of data for development planning at the village level.
In Jakarta, Biranchi Upadhyaya, the Director of Hivos Southeast Asia, accompanied Sanne on a visit to Coworkinc, a co-working space that will become part of Impact Hub Jakarta. Coworkinc is part of Hivos’ Social Entrepreneurship Support Program. There was a lively discussion with Coworkinc staff, mostly about their collaboration with Hivos on Idea Jam, a series of capacity building events for youth, social entrepreneurs, and the creative community, amongst others. Ideas and suggestions about accelerating social innovation and entrepreneurship with frontrunners were expressed and explored.
Ms Trenité then visited Labuhan Bajo and Ende in East Nusa Tenggara to see the progress of the Hivos – PRISMA pig rearing project connected to our Sustainable Food programme. In Indonesia, Hivos Southeast Asia is supporting pig breeders to improve their lives by applying sustainable breeding methods that also boost income. Hivos support includes access to information and services, integration in local and national markets, and training in business skills and sustainable breeding practices.
She met Mrs. Yuliana Ratna Juita in Labuan Bajo, one of the livestock owners whose stalls have become exemplary for our pig rearing project. In Lancang, Komodo-sub district, Mrs. Habur talked about the developments of her pig breeding business and how it provides the family income.
The inspiring journey through Indonesia came to an end in Jakarta at the office of Yayasan Rumah Energi (YRE). There the progress of the Indonesia Domestic Biogas Programme (BIRU) project was discussed as well as matters of sustainability.
Sanne Nolst Trenité returned to the Netherlands re-energised and reconnected.
