Day 30 of 30, we have now been traveling for one month. What feels like five minutes of linear time and one year worth of knowledge and experience has culminated in one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. The trip broke down approximately into spending three days in Singapore when I arrived, one week in Bali as our first Indonesian destination, two weeks on Lombok as our second Indonesian destination, and three more days in Singapore as my departing gateway. Now departing, Southeast Asia has graced me with countless memories, new friends, a (almost certain) permanent Chaco tan line, and an engrained and revived sense for travel and adventure. Our last week spent in Lombok consisted of the continued effort to complete one of Amir’s amazing projects he has been working on during his extended stay in Southeast Asia known as Project Kopi (www.projectkopi.com).
We arrive in the Gangga region of Lombok located on the northern section of the island near the base of Rinjani, the tallest volcano in Lombok. We have been traveling via scooter for over three hours and are ready to rest our chaffed backsides. In Lombok the Gangga region is most well known for their coffee and cocoa, which most farmers grow amongst a plethora of other fruit trees and vegetation (there is no such thing as mono-cropping in this region). Most farmers here are sustenance farmers, and survive mostly on what they produce as well as trading with fellow villagers and selling in markets as far as Bali.
We have been driving around aimlessly for 30 minutes now not knowing where to look for coffee. As we stop to consider our next move a man drives up to us on his scooter and asks where we are headed in broken English. We explain our mission and goals of social entrepreneurship to him, and after a minute he says to follow him to his farm. Next we are speeding through the jungle on scooters weaving amongst the trees until we come into a clearing with multiple structures. In Indonesia the custom is to build small villages known as “Kampungs” in which many families live together and pool resources (labor skills, and natural resources). Our new friend, Ecok, has coffee his family grows and harvests themselves. They harvest two to three times a year and bring most of the coffee to markets in Bali. They still have some green beans left over, but they have not been de-husked yet, no problem we think. We purchase four kilograms of green beans, and pay double the average price per kilo. First lesson in social entrepreneurship and steady state economics, applying a triple bottom line accounting system assures the farmers fair trade prices for their goods and services. The profit margin for coffee is so high, and the product moves through so many hands that the farmer on average ends up with the least amount of income per kilogram of coffee sold.
There is four kilograms of shelled green bean pure Gangga Robusta coffee sitting in front of us, and no machines in sight to begin the de-husking process. There it is, a hallowed out tree stump and large wood shaft (a big mortar and pestle), so we begin the process of de-husking the coffee beans. Pound, pound, pound for over an hour we empty the crushed husks and beans onto a strainer on which we sort the beans and crushed remains out. We have collected four kilos of green beans. We decide to roast two kilos and keep two kilos green (a green bean preserves a lot longer than a roasted bean) and we realize again no mechanized roaster. There is a clay pot and a fire, we are doing it traditional. After another hour of roasting the beans over the fire to a dark rich roast we have completed the first steps in our process of creating a sustainable product that supports the communities of the Gangga region, while supporting the Western yearning for good coffee at an equitable price, but not without the essential support and help from Ecok and his family in the entire process.
While we complete this project we are staying with our friend Anton, a charismatic local of the Gangga region who owns a home stay and organic coffee art operation that sees people from all over the world. It is the most local home stay we have encountered, and it is perfect. It is the budget travelers dream accommodation, all food is local priced, and there are plenty of waterfalls and treks to explore in the area for very affordable prices. Built in a traditional Kampung, with traditional Sasak bamboo bungalows we are surrounded by Anton’s family and neighbors. Anton knows everyone, so he becomes an invaluable resource in completing our project. We head to the next stop, grinding the beans and packaging. We have learned that the coffee of this region is famous for fermenting raw vanilla within its packaged goods, so in keeping with tradition we source some raw local vanilla beans (and in keeping with the triple bottom line accounting, we pay double the average price) to ferment our soon to be packaged coffee.
The locals with the packaging equipment also grow and sell coffee. They are part of a cooperative in the area that helps the farmers better manage their crops and ROI. It is simple plastic sealed packaging of either 50 gram non-resealable packages of clear plastic, or 100 gram resealable packages of clear plastic, the market and resources for more sustainable packaging and labeling has not yet reached this area of the world. We have two kilos of roasted coffee to grind and package, so we opt for the 50 gram packages with which we can distribute to more people and educate them on the mission of Amir’s non-profit social business and its mission of creating a sustainable business in the coffee market, while supporting an orphanage in the Aceh region of Sumatra that had been devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Amir’s entire philosophy regarding this project is to create a sustainable business in a local market, providing the local economy with fair trade prices and wages, while simultaneously supporting an organization in the country that lacks essential funding from government and private sources. The idea is still in Beta round testing of market share and triple bottom line viability, but it is promising seeing that Indonesia grows some high quality coffee (if done correctly) and consumers in Western markets are turning towards products with missions such as Project Kopi’s. This type of social entrepreneurship supports the fundamentals of steady state economics by providing fair trade prices to local markets that produce organic products to sustainably supply markets with demand, and develop a business model that does not grow, but instead develops into a long-term sustainable market providing feedback loops that support systems in need of funding.
We finish packaging the last of the ground coffee fermenting with vanilla, and are headed off back to Kuta in the south of Lombok in the morning. It is bitter sweet leaving in the morning knowing what we have accomplished, but we will be back in due time. The back seat of the scooter is uninviting, but with a stop in Mataram to print some Project Kopi sticker labels for the coffee, and a stop in Sukarara the home of traditional weaving in Lombok and the best spot to find handmade affordable sarongs the four hour trip isn’t so bad. We arrive back in Kuta with enough time to say hello to our local bracelet and coconut source, Romi the nine year old equivalent of the best salesman you’ve never met! After stocking up on hand made bracelets, and throwing in a little extra which we made him promise would go towards his schooling, and watching him climb a very tall coconut tree from which he collected a few coconuts for us all to enjoy we said goodbye, which in Bahasa Indonesian is said as, “Sampai jumpa lagi”, which means “see you again”.
The next morning we flew out of Lombok International Airport to Kuala Lumpur and then onto Singapore, the extended travel via Air Asia saving us approx. $70 USD each rather than a direct flight to Singapore (credit Amir for his extensive experience in sourcing out the discounted tickets). Now in Singapore still reminiscing on the experiences of the last 30 days, I have decided that budget travel mixed with social entrepreneurship is THE most rewarding experience a person can have when adventuring to places wild and unknown. I have been rewarded with the most memorable adventure of my life by taking hold of my decisions, directing my energy into making positive impacts, leaving my comfort zones at home, and providing ample time in our travel schedule to let randomness and hospitality guide us to the most unique and special experiences.
I hope you have enjoyed this bit on social entrepreneurship and budget travel, it is something simple, something new, and something worth saving a bit of coin to let your travels last a lifetime.
Onward,
Hayden
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