Departure of Max and Mats
Internship successfully completed
Mats Pullen and Max Dikker delivered their final product, and with that their internship has come to an end. They managed to shorten the period by two weeks by working hard on it—extra vacation days, then 🙂 Together they’re flying to Jakarta, and from there their paths split: Max to Laos and Mats to Lombok. Happy Green Islands is grateful to them for all their efforts and the time they dedicated to our waste project!
Max developed a dashboard that systematically maps the project’s progress. Mats gathered information that enables villages to make well-founded choices when purchasing machines and resources that fit their situation. The final products will be published on our website as soon as we receive approval from Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. TOMA! Enjoy your well-deserved holiday!
Max and Mats say they had a great time on Saparua. They learned a lot about themselves and about life far beyond the Dutch border. Would you like to do your internship with Happy Green Islands too? You can apply here.
The cook, Mama Tjitji, came along to see them off 🙂
Collaboration with the Bintari team
Happy Green Islands works closely with the Bintari Foundation from Semarang. By now, the team members feel at home on both Saparua and Banda. They’ve made the Happy Green Islands networks their own—and they’re making good use of them. Below we see them at work in kantor Klasis: a workshop on waste management for the team members from the four villages selected to participate in the “Plasma B” program.
The Bintari team consists of 15 members spread across Saparua, Banda, and their headquarters in Semarang. All of them are paid, experienced professionals with whom we coordinate our activities and complement one another.
Making your own choices
Village budgets are limited, and so far village councils have been choosing solutions within their own village. Based on well-supported calculations, they know that cooperation between villages will be more efficient and cheaper in the long run. It will still take time to make that cooperation happen—especially when it comes to recycling used plastic.
Local ownership
Local ownership. A phrase we can’t emphasize often enough. Actions are formulated based on input from residents of the four selected villages. Solutions must above all fit the context of those villages—so it starts with listening and mapping needs. The Bintari team members are experienced in this and do it with pleasure. For Happy Green Islands, a more-than-welcome addition!
Training on the job
Two team members of our partner organization Toma Majo Lease—Chacha Wattiheluw and Fitri Wattimena—are receiving training on the job. This is something Happy Green Islands hasn’t been able to focus on enough in recent years due to limited capacity. The board of Toma Majo Lease could use more members. The loss of Eles and Dave has not yet been replaced. On an island like Saparua, suitable people are very hard to find. Residents live day to day and simply don’t have the opportunity to volunteer. In the coming months we will keep focusing on expanding, preferably also on Haruku and Nusalaut. Happy Green Islands remains committed to creating paid jobs. Asset funds aren’t willing to cover those kinds of costs, so we remain dependent on private donations and other initiatives.
Xaviera Pieplenbosch is volunteering
Xaviera recently graduated from Utrecht University, Faculty of Sustainable Development. She chose Happy Green Islands to strengthen our team with her knowledge—and at the same time to get a glimpse of daily life far beyond the Dutch border. And where better to do that than on a remote island like Saparua? Better that than immediately applying for an office job in the Netherlands.
Over the past weeks, Xaviera has gotten to know the local population and their culture. She has been able to admire the nature of the three islands—Haruku, Saparua, and Nusalaut—guided by people who proudly explain the highlights firsthand. Happy Green Islands facilitates this, among other things, by interpreting and arranging transport.
Xaviera focuses on positively influencing social media algorithms through hopeful, solution-oriented content. With this approach, the reach of positive sustainability stories grows, and awareness and behavior change are further encouraged.
Would you also like to contribute to a healthier, cleaner, and more sustainable Indonesia? You can apply here.
