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How You Can Impact Indonesia for a Better Tomorrow
In 2022, the Telunas Foundation (Yayasan Teman & Keluarga) was established. It exists to initiate and facilitate impact that is holistic and generational in the communities and geographies of our partner organizations.
From the beginning of Telunas Resorts in 2004, co-founders Mike Schubert and Eric Baldwin recognized that the community they lived and worked in was filled with gifted, talented and creative people…people that have become their number one priority. Today, Telunas has grown to a socially responsible resort brand. Telunas is driven to have a positive impact on not just the local community, environment, and staff, but also on Guests, helping them to reconnect with what’s important.
Over the years friends and family members have asked how they can become more involved with impacting Indonesia for a better tomorrow.
Digging wells, protecting endangered sea turtles, teaching English as a second language, supplying sports equipment and athletic venues for local kids, repairing and painting schools, replacing roofs for local islanders and providing a computer lab and college scholarships for students—these are ways you can become involved.
Now you can be part of bringing sustainable positive impact to surrounding communities, ecosystems, and the local economy.
Employing The Resorts’ Neighbors
The most obvious tangible impact is the employment of over 160 individuals. The majority are from surrounding neighbor islands. Many of these individuals were subsistence level fishermen prior to the start of Telunas.
Community Development
The Telunas Foundation engages the surrounding community by simply asking about needs. They survey local leadership to understand needs and how best Telunas can help support their desired future. Projects and programs vary from village to village. Telunas and their guests have partnered to impact over 30 villages each year, with over 60,000 volunteer hours by Guests and Staff.
Scholarship Program
To date, Telunas has provided college scholarships to ten individuals with plans for more in the coming year. Six of these individuals have graduated. One is working with Telunas and four will be doing internships this year at Telunas.
Telunas Foundation Camp
The Telunas Camp has been held twice so far. Thirty teenagers attended each session. Weighty issues are discussed including drug, alcohol, cigarette smoking and pornography addiction. In addition, topics like healthy lifestyles and planning for their future are discussed. Our dream is to host two camps each year, reaching over 60 teenagers each year on remote islands. Your partnership helps provide costs for training materials and supplies for the program.
Keluarga Teladan
Keluarga Teladan means Exemplary Families. It began over six years ago and is arguably the best sustainable positive impact program by the Telunas Foundation. It involves life-coaching and mentoring, and focuses on developing stronger family relationships and improving relationships between husbands and wives. There is also training on practical life skills like home finance management, budgeting and differentiating between needs and wants. The dream is to rain our staff, who will in turn train their friends and family.
Supporting Local Entrepreneurs
Utilizing local entrepreneurs is key to the resorts’ success. By developing channels for local producers to gain access to the tourist market, Telunas Foundation is helping a small but growing community of local artisans to find markets for their products. Local craftsman built the resort furniture from upcycled Malay boats; local builders were hired to build the two resorts.
Waste Management
Telunas Resorts strives to minimize the use of single-use plastics such as plastic water bottles, straws, and more. 100% of organic waste is disposed of in an environmentally-friendly way through advanced composting techniques. An incinerator was built to reduce harmful pollutants going into the air or into the ground.
Carbon Footprint Reduction
Telunas Resorts goal is to shrink its carbon footprint, minimizing high energy consuming equipment and the preservation and planting of mangroves. Guests and Staff have planted over 10,000 mangroves.
Mangroves provide the largest offset to the resort’s carbon footprint. The 70,000 square meters (over 17 acres) of mangroves conserved by the resort absorbs over 12 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
In 2019, a solar power system was installed on Telunas Private Island that reduces diesel consumption by 60%.
To find out more about how you can become involved, please email us at ?????@???????.com
