Volunteer in Indonesia with Kopernik

Article from Saraswati Ratnanggana and Nick Metherall

Work with a not-for-profit in Indonesia – KOPERNIK

Interested in an opportunity to volunteer in Indonesia but unsure about where and how? Well, this month Asia Options would like to share information about a new opportunity with Kopernik, a not-for profit organization head quartered in Bali, Indonesia. Kopernik connects simple, life-changing technologies, such as solar lights, water filters, and clean cook stoves with remote communities to reduce poverty.

One of their biggest initiatives at the moment is called Wonder Women Indonesia.

Wonder Women Indonesia

Kopernik’s Wonder Women initiative is making clean energy technologies available to people in remote Indonesian villages, where access to electricity and affordable cooking fuel is extremely limited. At the same time, it empowers women to boost their income through selling solar lanterns, water filters and clean cooking stoves in their communities.

Since 2011, Kopernik has worked with more than 300 wonder women micro-social-entrepreneurs, who have distributed almost 10,000 clean energy technologies to date. These technologies have reduced C02 emissions by more than 5,000 tonnes.

The initiative has also been recognised by The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with the Momentum for Change 2014 Lighthouse Activity Award, making it the first Indonesian program to ever receive the award.

For more info about this initiative, please see the Kopernik website.

Get Involved!

Kopernik is currently looking for a Communications Advisor (AVID Volunteer).

The Australian Government’s Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID) program is supporting a Communications Advisory (Women’s Economic Empowerment) role, working with the Kopernik team to support the economic empowerment of women.

This volunteer role is open to Australians, and will start in February 2016.

The position’s responsibilities:

As a Communications Advisor (Women’s Economic Empowerment) you will work with staff to develop and implement program-level communication plans of Kopernik’s main program, Wonder Women Indonesia. Support will also be provided to develop strong media pitches and engage with target media to secure coverage of Kopernik’s work in Indonesia. With staff, you will develop and implement new print, video and multimedia materials to communicate project impact to the broader community. You will also work with staff to implement a national advocacy campaign.

These objectives will strengthen Kopernik to create market conditions that allow women entrepreneurs to succeed and develop sustainable livelihoods, as well as provide poor communities with access to life-changing technologies.

Applications are open until 21 September 2015. For more information about the position please see the Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID) Website.

About the Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID) programs.

(AVID) is an Australian government initiative launched in July 2011. It is funded and delivered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in partnership with Australian Volunteers International (AVI), Scope Global and Australian Red Cross (ARC).

The program aims to:

• build understanding of Australia’s international role and commitment to integration with the Indo-Pacific region;
• increase the number of volunteers working to improve the economic livelihoods of people in developing countries; and
• develop volunteer assignments in priority areas of governance, health, social infrastructure, services and education.

For more information about Kopernik contact: [email protected]