As Reviewed by JESSICA YUWANTO and Published on Bellevue Reporter.com
An Indonesian activist told a gathering in Bellevue of the need both for education and hydro power projects in rural parts of her country.
Tri Mumpuni spoke at CERDAS’ fourth annual fundraising dinner at North Bellevue Community Center. The CERDAS Foundation is a nonprofit, community-powered organization established in Seattle in 2007.
The event was attended by more than 300 people and raised more than $20,000 for the organization.
Over the years, Mumpuni’s business group, IBEKA, has built 60 community-run hydropower projects in Indonesia and the Philippines. These provide electricity for about 500,000 people in rural areas.
Mumpuni sees her work as a way to help the poor improve their lives.
“It is important to expose the situations that unprivileged people face because they exist in our society,” said Mumpuni, who is also the recipient of Eisenhower and Ashoka fellowships. “The only way that we can thank God for what we have is by giving back to society. It’s almost like an obligation.”
CERDAS’ mission is to provide equal access to education for children, regardless of their ethnic, religious, social, political or economic backgrounds, and to offer aid during natural disasters and emergencies in Indonesia. The word “CERDAS” in Indonesian means intelligent and “is used to describe a sharp mind,” according to the organization.
Mumpuni was born in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia in 1964. As a young child, she often accompanied her mother to different villages to nurse the sick. Her house was the community center for activities ranging from literacy programs to health-care services, she said.
She spent some of her teen years with the family of Soepardjo Rustam, the former Minister of Internal Affairs, where she was exposed directly to work with the poor in rural areas. She completed her studies at the Institute of Agriculture in Bogor and then worked as a social worker in urban areas, where she developed an understanding of creating community-based models.
Mumpuni’s husband, Iskandar Budisaroso Kuntoadji, who is a micro hydropower movement activist, persuaded her to return to rural areas to develop electrical power. In 1996, she realized that the combined use of heat and power (co-generation) was crucial to sustain electricity in rural areas since the state-run power company was pulling sources of electricity away.
In 2010, Mumpuni was invited to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in Washington, D.C., with President Barack Obama. The president recognized Mumpuni in his speech and greeted her with warmth afterward. She said it was the most historic moment in her life.
In 2011, she became one of the six recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay award, which is equivalent to the Nobel prize in Asia, according to the Huffington Post.
Mumpuni also talked about empathy. She said many people are suffering from what she called “empathy deficiency human disorder.” She spoke about the gap between rich and poor people in Indonesia.
“I believe that rich people aren’t capable of spending all of their money,” she said. “It’s better for them to use their money properly to help children in very remote areas to go to school.”
She described how children would benefit from having more sources of electricity. For example, children would be able to study at night and live in a cleaner environment.
In addition, CERDAS provides financial aid to 134 students, ranging from kindergarten through high school, in 13 regions in Indonesia. Their scholarship programs are aimed at reducing dropout rates and easing the transition from primary to secondary school. CERDAS believes education is the key to breaking poverty.
“I’m so happy that this community is doing something concrete in helping other people,” Mumpuni stated. “You always have to start small, but things will grow. The most important thing is commitment.”
Jessica Yuwanto is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.
