Since our stay in Indonesia, Lisa and I have been off the typical tourist track. Last week, we spent about a week in Sanur, a popular tourist area outside of Denpasar. For part of the week we caught up with our CEOs and spent some time working with a nonprofit organization based in Ubud called Kopernik, which provides life changing technologies to last mile customers. Towards the end of the week, we spent our time catching up on notes and data. While working in Indonesia, Lisa and I have had very little time off given all the traveling and meetings. Last week we had a few days off and we indulged in the typical tourist activities. Bali is absolutely full of tourists this time of year, especially from Europe and Australia. Bali is also the most visited island by western tourists in all of Indonesia. The tourism industry, although not as big as agriculture, is still massive component of the economy within Bali and is concentrated mainly in the south.<\/p>\n
Working with Kopernik was great and different from what we have been doing previously since Kopernik is a nonprofit entity which sources the filters. Kopernik provides other technologies like solar lamps and cook stoves to last mile consumers and an affordable price. It was nice to learn about the organization, how they function, and how they are able to provide crucial technology to communities which are often isolated. We were able to brainstorm and meet with various program coordinators in their office. The next day, we traveled to Desa Ban to visit a kiosk which sells Nazava and chatted with them about sales practices. I really liked Kopernik\u2019s training for kiosk owners and support for tech agents. Not only are communities benefiting from the new technologies which are now in reach, but sales agents are learning valuable business skills and making livelihoods.<\/p>\n
While in Bali, Sally (another GSBF fellow working in the Phillipines) came by to visit us and spent the week with us. We also met up with Amy and Paty, two friends of Lisa who recently graduated from Santa Clara and are journeying around south east Asia. It was really nice to spend time with the girls! I must admit it felt strange to indulge in the luxury of tourist side of Bali when for weeks we have been so far removed from that part of Indonesia. I almost felt like I was committing a crime by buying food over 20,000 Rupiah. We also checked out the infamous region of Kuta. Kuta is known for being a tourist hub filled with unruly drunk tourists who disregard the locals. Kuta was definitely an experience for us and not like many of the places we have seen in Indonesia so far. With all the free flowing alcohol, bars, and women topless in the beach, I forgot I was even in the most populous Muslim country. It\u2019s funny how much of a contrast Bali is from Jakara. In Jakarta, I have seen cafes and restaurants with curtains up covering people eating because of Ramadan. \u00a0Although it was nice to have a few days off, it was weird being on the tourist track and being served to at fancy restaurants by people your own age. Being waited on was always feels so weird to me, because back home I work retail and I am always on the other side of the coin, waiting on others. I did feel a little annoyed with how rude some tourists were to locals or how blatantly entitled they felt prancing around in a place where they know very little about the culture and people. I think ultimately what I am getting at is there is definitely a right way and wrong way to be a tourist. You should not travel to countries for a cheap holiday and act in a way you wouldn’t on the streets of your own country. But I’ll stop there before I start to ramble. Our last week of research will be in Papua in which we work with an nonprofit church group which assists resellers in running kiosks that sell Nazava. Stayed tuned for a post on that!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since our stay in Indonesia, Lisa and I have been off the typical tourist track. Last week, we spent about a week in Sanur, a popular tourist area outside of Denpasar. For part of the week we caught up with our CEOs and spent some time working with a nonprofit organization based in Ubud called … Continue reading Kopernik and Bali Tourist Track<\/span>