I have a story to share of an inspirational woman named Yun Pratiwi from remote Kalimantan. A tech challenge lost the recording my interview. But the details of our conversation and the passion in her voice, are as vivid to me as if she were sitting next to me right now. Here is her story.
Yun Pratiwi (pronounced Yoon) grew up near a river, in a jungle village of the central Indonesian portion of the Southeast Asia island Borneo, called Kalimantan. Yes, it is as remote as it gets. Growing up, her home was dramatically different than mine, but her interests and dreams as a teenager were as familiar as my own. Until the smoke came.
In 2015, Kalimantan became choked in smoke from fires of protected land—started by slash-and-burn techniques from clearing land for lucrative palm oil plantations —then dangerously spun out of control. I remember this. As far as Singapore, parents were keeping kids and elderly inside to avoid the acrid haze. My own neighborhood collected masks and shoes to ship to the Kalimantan firefighters. Yun was there in the middle of it where PSI reached 2000 (over 300 is considered hazardous), when her family forced to flee their home.
Most young people would continue running at this point. Go to school in a larger city, settle there to work, and leave behind the responsibilities of a remote village with palm oil plantations closing in. But Yun stayed. And this is where her unique story begins.
Seeing the natural beauty around her, particularly the endangered primate population losing their homes, Yun decided to help protect it. She launched an eco-tourism company to share the amazing gifts of her region with sustainability-focused tourists. This was an amazing feat in many ways:
- She was a young woman in an area where few women worked outside the house.
- She was a mother to a baby with a supportive husband (who soon became her first employee).
- She had endured rejection for support from her many requests to the large NGOs working in the area.
- She had an English-language school certificate but no other formal training or example to follow.
Yun continued to develop her company. She introduced new job opportunities for her neighbors to provide transport, food and accommodation for her tourist guests. And when that was running well, she looked deeper. She noticed the soaps that were bought for the homestays were made from the palm oil that was causing the destruction around her. So, she engaged local friends to use the natural ingredients of their surrounds to make beautiful organic soaps as replacements. She noticed the souvenirs being sold were made of plastic from other countries and engaged more friends to make natural paper and seed cards as sustainable souvenir alternatives. And she found small ways to share the jungle with others such as bottling the local medicinal honey in small glass bottles. She stayed, she took action, and she made a difference. She employed a village that had little option other than to work for the plantation owners manipulating their land. She’s helped save the beauty and habitat of her area. And she has become a mentor to other young women of the region.
Yun did this against the odds, with fewer resources than you or I have at our disposal. The inspiration that I take from this story is that we can each do this. We can do it when it is easy, and we can do it when it is difficult. It makes a difference and it is worth it. Look outside your window at the beauty, then make one considered greener decision in your marketing today.
Footnote. For the last 2 years, COVID has shut Yun’s tourism business and many other locally led eco-focused businesses. You can find out more about Yun’s projects at Central Borneo Guide .