When Ibu Bekti first learned about the Kopernik Wonder Women programme, she was already a passionate, widely respected and highly effective advocate for the empowerment of Indonesian women and children.

It was no surprise, then, that the Kopernik programme resonated with her. The Wonder Women initiative trains Indonesian women to become micro entrepreneurs by selling simple solar lanterns, water filters and clean cookstoves in their communities.

“I saw how these technologies could be an enabling factor for women to become independent – to be able to save money and energy, and to live a healthier life,” she says. With access to safe drinking water still limited on Flores Island, and electricity equally unreliable, water filters and solar lamps “are extremely useful for us.”

To date, she’s responsible for the distribution of more than 300 clean energy technologies to small communities on Flores Island, Indonesia.

Her commitment to improving lives and her entrepreneurial spirit led her to use these technologies to help small farmers who often carry a lot of debt, in part because they spend valuable cash to buy kerosene for lighting.

Her solution was to trade Kopernik solar lamps for the farmers’ produce. This then created another opportunity, and she and a partner launched a café in 2016 that not only uses the produce but also educates customers on healthy eating.

Having worked with thousands of low-income women since the 1980s, Ibu Bekti is leveraging the Kopernik Wonder Women programme to continue empowering women, support communities and care for the planet.