Meeting Our Community Development Team in Indonesia

July

Meeting Our Community Development Team in Indonesia

Posted by admin . Published on 19 July 2009

Earlier this week we drove to the city of Bandung, the capital of West Java Indonesia to meet with local community development experts.

The Jakarta-to-Bandung highway we drove on was just as nice as any major highway in the US. The two hour drive gave us a little better idea of what the countryside looks like outside of Jakarta. As the scenery started to open up, Jocelyne and I started to mention how pretty the mountains and the terraced small farms were, our host and business partner smiled and told us, “On a scale of one to ten, all of this is about 2.5.” I asked, “Will we have time to see any ‘tens’ while we’re here?” He broke into a huge, proud grin and teasingly remarked, “We’ll see.”

As soon as we exited the highway we were immediately back in the urban traffic snarl that everyone here obviously takes for granted. Moving through traffic like this really is an interesting experience. It’s like a slow motion dance of thousands cars and trucks where everyone respects everyone else’s space while actively trying to move as quickly as possible in pretty much the same direction… while pretty much ignoring the lane marking lines, and blocking lanes to make u-turns without turning lanes. All of this with very few traffic lights or traffic police… or signs for that matter. Next throw in the fact that they drive on the left side of the road, and throw in a few million small motorbikes that split lanes and weave in and out of the slow moving cars and trucks pretty effortlessly. In spite of the controlled, almost choreographed chaos there’s an almost peaceful resolve that this is just how it is supposed to be and nobody ever shows any signs of anger. I even noticed that very few vehicles have any body damage. I asked our host about the frequency of accidents, he told us that motor vehicle accidents were very rare. The collective driving skill is truly impressive, especially the motorcycle riders. They seem to operate under a completely different set of rules. They willingly trade their ability to effortlessly cut in and out of slow traffic for the acceptance of the fact that cars are constantly cutting them off. It’s as if the car and truck drivers know the motorcycles can and will either slow down or go around, so it’s ok to cut them off, and it seems to be ok with the riders too.

We met with two members of our Indonesian team that live here in Bandung at a very nice, very traditional restaurant. When we mentioned how nice it was to our host, he smiled that proud knowing smile again and said,”2.5.” I sense a pattern developing here.

These guys are inventors of numerous important inventions here in Indonesia. Most notably is a solar powered LED lighting system for rural homes. The invention and distribution has been so successful that the inventor is receiving an award from the president of Indonesia. We were supposed to attend the ceremony but a scheduling conflict with a representative of a large equity investor moved the meeting. Investment meetings trump presidential awards today. There will be plenty of time for presidential awards later.

After settling into our seating area we were joined by a group of white jacketed gentlemen with a very peaceful sense about them. Immediately after very quick introductions the food started pouring in, and kept pouring in until it became very obvious that we wouldn’t be able to eat it all. We feasted with light conversation and laughter. No business talk, no rush. I couldn’t venture a guess what most of the dishes were but it was clear to them that Jocelyne and I were vegetarians. They made a point of frequently reassuring us which dishes had no meat.

As soon as our hosts were completely convinced that all of us were finished, they stood up and said, “Ok… please follow us.” We asked about the bill and were assured that it had “All been taken care of.”

We all climbed into our respective vehicles and followed our white jacketed friends back into the crazy traffic. They led us deep into what appeared to be an older part of the city. The street was lined with street vendors and little shops. Some were new and modern, some were old and grimy. There was no discernible pattern, just a jumble of vendors and customers and the always present motorbikes. Suddenly the lead car with our white jacketed friends turned left into an alley. I have to be honest, I was really starting to wonder where we were going.

As soon as we turned in to the alley it was obvious. The “alley” was actually an entrance into a compound with a framework awning about three stories tall providing shade and a sense of protection from the elements. As we continued to follow them into the compound it was as if we had entered a completely different city. All of the building were very well kept. There was no trash anywhere. It was like an urban oasis.

We were directed to park under another canopy that seemed more like an outdoor theatre than a parking lot. As we exited the cars our white jacketed friends approached with an obvious sense of peaceful pride in their eyes. They could see the wonder in our faces as we started to look around. Like proud parents they invited us to follow them for “a little tour” First a walk through what seemed like a small hotel lobby which opened into a courtyard with motel rooms along both sides of a manicured yard. They asked if we would like to see inside one of the rooms. “Of course,” we said. “There’s no air conditioning.” They said with a twinkle in their eyes that gave away the surprise. They opened the door to let us in and it had to be 20 degrees cooler in the room. I asked how they did it, they replied, “We’ll show you some other time, we have other things to show show you today.” The tour continued, a coffee shop, a pre-school area, a free clinic, a book store, a grocery store. They gathered all of us together closely at the front door of an obviously large building and said, “Today is the first day of our high school IT class. We had planned for 75 students but received 200 requests for the class so we had to move the class to the auditorium. He quietly opened the door for us to look in. As we all peered in the teacher stopped the lesson that was being presented. Our hosts quickly told the entire class something in Indonesian language with the word “Americans” in it and the entire class snapped their heads toward the door to see us. I thought, “Oh man… I hope they don’t ask us to say something to the entire class.”… Thankfully they didn’t but it became very obvious that they are all fascinated by us and completely respectful of our time and space.

As the tour seemed to be wrapping up suddenly there were two new gentlemen that I hadn’t noticed before. They approached to introduce themselves. “We are the chairmen of this place. Please follow us.” We slowly began walking deeper into the complex. Their english wasn’t very good, and our Indonesian is still non-existent, but it didn’t seem to matter. They asked simple questions about if we liked their place, if we were enjoying our stay in Indonesia. Their peaceful nature was such a stark contrast to the chaos occurring just a few hundred feet away. We were led to a large building at the back of the complex. Inside a meeting room had been arranged for a presentation. After we all settled in with one of the two gentlemen we just met took the microphone and, with an interesting level of formality, introduced everyone in the room. He explained he and the other gentleman we met just a few minutes previously were co-chairmen of the organization that created this community. The gentlemen we met at the restaurant were the steering committee. After the very thorough introduction he launched a video presentation, in english, that explained how they had built the entire community we were experiencing in just 5 years. When they started the area was a slum. They started with a few donations to purchase the land, then through their own entrepreneurial efforts built this entire community. The professionally produced video included a brief description of how the approximately 20 businesses they’ve created serve the community and interact among themselves. In addition to the businesses we toured through they also have a television and radio station.

The complexity of their organization is truly impressive. The fact that it’s situated in the middle of Indonesian slum is astonishing.

As soon as the video finished our host began a powerpoint presentation that described their newest initiative, A self-sustaining community approximately five miles outside of the city. He quickly went through quite a bit of detail about their water purification system, farming techniques and expansion plans.

Now it was obvious why we were here. Our associates here in Indonesia had chosen a a group with an impressive track record to implement a key part of our business plan.

In order for our projects to receive the highest ratings and the carbon credits we generate to sell for the highest prices possible we have to demonstrate a significant level of economic and social development in the communities affected by our projects. These people are obviously experts with well thought out plans.

We’re really looking forward to working with them.