Google.org pledges to help struggling businesses and underprivileged students in Indonesia with three new grants
Originally posted in Bahasa Indonesia at Google Indonesia blog post on June 28, 2020
Komang Mirah loves attending school in Bali, but due to the outbreak, her school in Kintamani had to close. For the first time, the 16-year-old has had to access online courses but it hasn’t been easy. Home-learning means having a hardware device, buying an internet package regularly and having strong connectivity. But with support from local nonprofit, Putera Sampoerna Foundation, she now has the resources, tools and technical assistance that she needs to easily access her lessons virtually.
The current outbreak has impacted more than 62M students in Indonesia experiencing school closures. But stories like Mirah’s remind us that, with technology, education can be accessible to everyone. We want to play a role in helping more students like Mirah cope with the ongoing changes related to education and learning.
As part of Google.org’s $10 million Distance Learning Fund, we are contributing a $250,000 grant to INCO to work with Putera Sampoerna Foundation and SMSG (Perkumpulan Integrasi Kolaborasi dan Inovasi Pendidikan) to develop a Learning Hub that provides wider access to quality materials for teachers, students and parents in Indonesia. Teachers will also be able to use virtual classrooms with all necessary tools and resources at their disposal in the hub. Through this effort, these local nonprofits hope to reach over 1,500 teachers and 45,500 students and parents across the country in the coming months.
In addition to education, we recognize that there are other areas that Google.org can support to help speed up economic relief and recovery.
Helping underserved business owners
Indonesia is home to more than 50 million micro, small and medium sized businesses (MSMEs) that contribute an estimated 60 percent to the country’s GDP. Yet, many of these businesses are now highly vulnerable to the current crisis and are experiencing profound economic shocks. They need support in accessing capital and expertise to keep their businesses going.
With a $2.5 million Google.org grant, Youth Business International (YBI) is leading a rapid response programme to help underserved MSMEs across 16 countries in Asia Pacific to sustain their livelihoods through the current crisis. This is part of Google.org’s $100 million contribution to COVID-19 relief.
Here in Indonesia, YBI will work with YCAB Foundation on a recovery program encompassing crisis helplines, targeted advice, online training and mentoring. This grant will help small business owners like Ibu Renny from Kedoya, West Jakarta, who runs her own bed linen business. Due to the current pandemic, Renny was forced to temporarily shut her business down, receiving near to zero orders for bed linens and bed covers. With this program, she looks forward to gaining digital and online marketing skills to gain more customers, and seek advice on government-led financial programs to better support her family during this challenging time.
Helping non-profit leaders adapt in times of crisis
Nonprofit organizations have played a major role in advocating for various causes that are important in Indonesia, from digital literacy to disaster prevention. But in this current climate, many nonprofits are facing multiple challenges from carrying out physical advocacy and training work to finding ways to move their outreach efforts online.
To help them make the transition, Google.org is supporting the Ashoka Foundation with a $600,000 grant to help 30 local nonprofits in Indonesia, India and Singapore navigate Covid-19.
The 12 local nonprofits are ICT Watch, Sejiwa Foundation, Peace Generation, Bebras, Maarif Institute, Mafindo, IniBudi, Ibu Professional, Telapak, Greeneration, Yayasan Peduli Kemanusiaan Foundation and KAPPALA Indonesia.
They will go through a comprehensive, six-month capacity-building program that will provide them with technology and tools they need to determine immediate needs and gaps in their organizations. At the same time, the program will teach them how to sustain and scale their community efforts for the long-term. The sessions will be delivered through a mixture of webinar workshops, as well as mentoring by group and one-on-one.
This is a program that Septi Peni from Ibu Professional is excited to be part of: “We are thankful that Ashoka, with support from Google.org, has offered this opportunity to connect with other nonprofits across the region. Through this program, we’re able to share the different approaches we’re taking to cope with this crisis, and with the learnings from the program, we’re able to course-correct as we navigate forward, while trying to be optimistic.”
We look forward to sharing the progress of these initiatives in the coming months, while we continue to find more ways to identify and support similar efforts that will positively impact the lives of Indonesians wherever they live.