Arnita and Chiara joined Katingan Mentaya Project in September 2019 while Ira joined a couple of months earlier in January. Together they make up the women of Katingan Mentaya Project’s tech team. Arnita, who is originally from Temanggung, Central Java, is responsible for the development of an Android application, used to ease the coordination of financial reporting system in the field. “I first applied to Katingan Mentaya Project as a Data Mining staff but was then recruited as a UI UX Front End Developer,” said Arnita, “I had doubts initially in my capabilities but getting to build an Android App is clearly one of the proudest achievements I’ve had so far.”

Chiara and Ira meanwhile are from Sampit, Central Kalimantan, and are currently working as a Data Mining Assistant and IT Assistant respectively. “More than anything,” Chiara explained further, “I think I’m the happiest and proudest when I get the chance to learn something new and be able to accompany my fellow colleagues in getting used to new data or tech systems that we’ve created.”

“I’ve learnt a lot of new things in the 2 years that I’ve worked at Katingan Mentaya Project,” Ira told us. In May 2020, Ira was chosen to join KMP’s analyst team that studied Phenology and Restoration in the project area, which to this date she still looks back fondly. “Though at first I had a lot of difficulties in understanding the data, I received a lot of help from my colleagues and by the end of the project I was exposed to a lot of new knowledge,” Ira admitted, “Such as plant species and about the wildlife within our forests. It never occurred to me that I could even study them in real life!”

Building an inclusive workplace needs effort and commitment. Here in Katingan Mentaya Project, we have hold true to that commitment and will continue on to do so by opening more doors and opportunities for women.