Why am I here?

People are probably wondering exactly what it is I’m supposed to be doing in Indonesia.  This will be my attempt to explain it as best I can.

 

First thing first - Why does VSO even operate here?

 

Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia, a ‘middle income’ country, with rapid economic growth; a young, educated population (240 million, the 4^th most populous nation on Earth); vast natural resource wealth, and a relatively stable government.  Things seem to be trending in the right direction, bottom line.

 

Official stats peg the percentage of the population as “officially” poor at 18.6%.  It’s important to mention that percentage translates to roughly 45 million people, or ~10 million more than the population of Canada.  However, “official” poverty is defined as those living on less than $1.25 / day.  Have you ever tried living on $1.25 / day?  It’s not easy.  However these numbers are only part of the puzzle, and mask a most unsettling reality in Indonesia.  The percentage of the population that is “officially” near-poor is 46.2% (or 112 million people).  Near-poor is defined as living on less than $2 / day.  In reality that means that 68% Indonesian population (165 million people!) lives on less than $2 / day and a significant chunk of those that are not officially poor or near-poor are hovering millimetres above these lines, dangerously susceptible to external shocks like natural disaster, economic shocks, and climate change.  Additionally, the top 5% of the Indonesian population controls 20% of the wealth, concentrated largely in Jakarta.

 

VSO Indonesia used to operate in 4 program areas:  Health, Disability, Livelihoods, and Education.  Because of the notoriously fickle Indonesian government, VSO was forced to shut down many programs in many areas of the country.  Now it operates predominantly in NTT (East Nusa Tunggara) and South Sulawesi provinces, and mainly in Livelihoods.  VSO globally has launched a Climate Change program area and that relates extremely well to Indonesia as subsistence farmers and marginalized populations are particularly susceptible to potential damage from climate change.

 

So VSO launched a strategic review of its programs and has come up with a new country strategy.  It will have 2 premier programs in addition to its Livelihoods and Climate Change development work.  These new programs can be grouped together under what’s called “Active Citizenship.”  In short, VSO wants to mobilize the vast human resources in this country (which has a history and culture of activism, engagement, and volunteering) to assist in the poorer areas of the country.  It has 2 programs, one called “Inter-Island Volunteering” where skilled Indonesians travel to poorer regions of the country to share skills, and “IndoVols” where skilled Indonesians volunteer internationally (much like I have).

 

In order for VSO to access the right skills needed to increase development capacity, they recognize that engagement with the Corporate Sector is crucial.  And that, after a lengthy explanation, is where I come in!

 

I am here to research opportunities and challenges associated with Employee Volunteering in Jakarta.  I will create a baseline, find out what’s happening currently, and advise VSO on how to best engage with the corporate sector (development organizations and business still speak vastly different languages).

 

[My Randstad colleagues will be amused to learn that yes, I’m building a database, qualifying contacts, making cold calls, and trying to book meetings with companies.  It’s like I’m a new consultant all over again].

 

So that, in a nutshell, is what I’m doing with VSO Indonesia.  I know from a development standpoint it’s not as desperate sounding as HIV in Africa, or even my disability project from Solo in 2009, but having said that, I believe firmly in VSO’s participative approach, the sustainable results that can be generated, and the good work that it does.  If you’ve gotten this far, I’m going to ask you to go just a bit further.  This is the point where I ask you to contribute to this cause, and supporting me, here:

 

My Personal Fundraising Page

I thank you in advance for your generous support.

...For more information:

www.vsointernational.org

www.vsoindonesia.org

www.cusointernational.org