GreenMicrofinancing

On Tuesday night I thought I was back in the cellular industry with the start-up of the Qualcomm Indonesian village phone program, Uber ESIA. They had a big launch party complete with dancers and music, and free flowing food and drinks. Professor Yunis was the featured speaker but of course, the real treat was the conversations with people like the movie producer from New York that is working on a film about Grameen. Gayle Ferrario has produced two films about Grameen and the 3^rd promises to be spectacular.

I also had a chance to visit with the visionary founder and head of Grameen Shakti, Dipul Barua. We were able to talk at length about his experience in making clean, renewable energy available to over 100,000 homes.

On Wednesday morning there was a break in our schedule so Dan, Elizabeth and I were able to see a little more of Bali than the hotel and convention center; in this case one of the six Hindu temples in Bali. On the 40 minute drive to the temple, we must have passed 10 other temples and then suddenly we crossed a ridgeline and were looking through the mist at huge (30 ft) breakers rolling in from the Indian Ocean and crashing into the 300 ft cliffs. No wonder Bali is considered a surfers paradise and of course Dan was very disappointed the surfing contest that is currently going on was a kilometer away and 100 meters below.

As we were getting out of the car, our driver warned us about the monkeys; it seems they will take glasses and earrings and trade them back for food; pretty smart little guys. As it turned out, the visit was uneventful, but the scenery was spectacular and the peace divine. This is still an active temple, so we were not able to go in all the parts and since Dan was wearing shorts when we arrived, he was covered with a sarong on the tour.

When we returned, Dan found out that his efforts to setup an interview with Professor Yunus had been rewarded so I got to have a 15 minute, on camera dialogue with him; what a privilege, video to follow!

And then when I got back to my hotel, I had a call from my son who had arrived in Bali. He lives and works in the Middle East and I haven’t seen him in ‘too long’ so this is an extra, special treat!