This Month's Stories
Say Hello to K-Store
Co-Founder Ewa is checking out our K-Store, and approves!
You’ve spoken, and we listened. Many of you have encouraged us to sell the technologies we feature on our site to donors who may want to use the products in their own homes. To that end, we’ve opened the first K-Store in our Bali office where people may purchase technologies to take home while at the same time making a meaningful contribution because 100% of the store's proceeds help fund our projects. So if you plan on visiting Bali, make sure you drop by to say hello and pick up a couple cool, life-changing gadgets while you’re at it! We are located in Sayan village of Ubud.
Kopernik Goes to Papua for a Tech Fair
By Lincoln Rajali Sihotang, Project Officer
Papua is one of Indonesia’s wealthiest provinces in terms of natural resources, yet it is the province with the poorest population. We’ve been in Papua to distribute solar lights before, but in late May some of our team members and I travelled to this remote part of Indonesia on a different mission: to hold a technology fair in Sarmi where community members have the opportunity to learn about our products and test them out on the spot. Tech fairs is how we introduce a wide range of technologies to community members and let them decide for themselves which ones they need most. We’ve organized seven throughout Indonesia in the last year, and in this short video you can watch all the fun we’ve had during those events:
View the same video with Bahasa Indonesia subtitles here.
Our most recent tech fair in Papua took place during the official launch of the first community radio station in Sarmi, Papua. Our team introduced 15 different technologies ranging from ceramic water filters to self-adjustable glasses, which all garnered the interests of community members and leaders alike. And of course, we also met with potential local partners with whom we hope to work on another project soon! Read more about this tech fair on my blog post here.
The Sundaya Ulitium200 solar light draws this lady's attention in Sarmi
Tech of the Month: Tulip Water Filter
Clean and safe water should be accessible for everyone, whether someone is experiencing the consequences of a natural disaster or is living in an area where clean water is scarce. The Tulip Water Filter provides this basic need in the most portable fashion. Essentially a gravity-fed, siphon ceramic water filter, it removes 99.99% of bacteria and filters at a rate of 4-5L per hour in any setting so long there is one bucket placed on a higher level than a second one, even if detached. The Tulip Water Filter uses the same ceramic filter candle that are inside Nazava water filters, and the result is filtered, clean water that is safe to drink, as tested by yours truly.
We especially like the Tulip Water Filter for the flexibility it offers; households need not purchase additional bulky containers and can instead use existing ones in their homes to obtain safe and filtered drinking water. We currently have a proposal from Nigeria requesting these handy ceramic water filters that will benefit 105 rural households—for less than $10, will you be so kind to treat them to a drink of clean water?
Cookstove Demonstration in India
In partnership with Haritika and Greenway Grameen Infra (the company behind fuel efficient Greenway Smart Stoves), we are now implementing the Smarter Cooking for Indian Women project in Madhya Pradesh, India. Shoeb Kazi of Greenway Grameen Infra has written a guest blog post about his trip to Chhatarpur, where Haritika is based, and his various stove demonstrations in villages where Haritika will distribute the stoves. These informal demonstrations gave community members, especially the women, the opportunity to try out the stoves before committing to purchasing one. They particularly appreciated the Greenway Smart Stove’s ability to produce stable fire, which eases the process of cooking roti, and to emit little to no smoke. To read Shoeb's delightful blog post, click here.
Shoeb (left) observes a woman testing out the Greenway Smart Stove in Kasera village
Haritika will soon begin selling the stoves at a subsidized price, and has set the target of 100 sales by the end of this month. We think they will have no problems meeting that goal, but if they do, our newest Fellow Yumiko Yamada, who will be joining them soon, will surely help them in that effort!
A Passion for Change
On the back of the success of the "Wine into Water" party that was held in October 2010, Kopernik supporters Adam and Ashleigh hosted another wine-themed fundraising event in Tokyo on June 9th. The event was attended by over 90 people, including Co-Founder Toshi Nakamura, and raised JPY668,000 (US$8410) to support the Kopernik project Drinks are on me!. There was free-flowing wine, highly coveted prizes in the charity raffle (like the highest performing car in the MINI line up for the weekend), and a presentation by Toshi that ended with a sip of clean, drinking water straight from a Nazava water filter. Let's just say the rest of us in Kopernik wish we had been there.
You can learn more about the Wine into Water 2 event from the organizer himself here. And if you feel inspired to host a party like this one in your own city, please check out our Events page and connect with us!
Last Minute Gift Idea for Dad
Father's Day is this Sunday, and we have a last minute gift idea with a big impact: Kopernik Vouchers.
You donate on behalf of your dad, he chooses which project he wants to support, and both of you will hear about the impact your gift has made in the field.
Choose your amount:
...and thank your dad for being awesome!
Are You Our Next Team Member?
We are looking for outside-the-box thinkers to join our amazing team in Indonesia. How outside the box, you ask? Watch this video to find out:
For Your Information
Join us
A Kopernik fellowship provides a unique opportunity for entrepreneurial individuals of the highest caliber and potential to work with our partner NGOs and assist with the implementation and monitoring of projects disseminating appropriate technology. We are currently seeking a fellow for Timor-Leste to assist with a follow-up survey that will help us measure the impact of the technologies distributed from last year on people's lives. For this position, we are looking for someone who is familiar with Bahasa Indonesia and has experience with conducting surveys.
Please contact us at kopernik@kopernik.info for more information.
Host a party
In the past, we've had supporters organize parties and events to fundraise and promote Kopernik. If you are interested in doing the same, click here for more info. If you have other ideas about spreading the word about the projects, we'd also love to hear from you!
Stay connected
Join us on Facebook and share our news with your friends.
Follow us on Twitter @thekopernikto stay updated on our whereabouts.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for videos from the field.
Read more about the reach and impact of our projects on our blog Kopernik in Action.
Stay abreast with advancements in the fields of appropriate technology and international development, one article synopsis at a time, with K-lab Weekly.
The Tipping Point Campaign
Sign up to give a small gift each month and we'll put it towards the project closest to completion. By joining our Tipping Point Campaign and donating $25 each month, you can make sure projects are fully funded and out the door quickly--the easiest and most effective way to improve lives through technology.
This month your donation will support the distribution of Give Safe, Drinking Water to Rural Nigerians.
Requests for technologies featured on the newsletter
$10 will enable us to support a household with one unit of Tulip Water Filter in the following project:
As little as $20 will enable us to support a household with one unit of Envirofit cookstove, which provides cleaner and safer cooking like the Greenway Smart Stove, in the following projects:
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