Joe Leroux '17 spent his summer as an intern with the Volunteers in Asia Indonesia Research Program in Yogyakarta.
This summer, Joe Leroux '17 explored his interest in economics and international relations as a research intern for the Institute for Development and Economic Analysis (IDEA) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
As a researcher, Leroux worked on budget advocacy and social auditing of the Indonesian government's disaster risk reduction (or DRR) program. The auditing process centered on all past natural disasters that have taken place in the country, such as the 2010 eruption of the volcano Mount Merapi.
He also had time to pursue his own research project on the financing and cultural effects of the DRR, and got the opportunity to speak with members of the Yogyakarta community who were impacted by Mount Merapi's eruption. Leroux believes this part of the internship was a highlight, although his lack of background in the local language (Bahasa Indonesia) made the process of communicating difficult at times.
“I took language courses in Bahasa Indonesian at Universitas Sanata Dharma, but I had no prior experience with the language, so it was hard for me to communicate with people who don't speak English,” he says.“At IDEA, some of the research I did was difficult to explain in English, let alone in Indonesian.”
Leroux is one of six Bi-Co students this year to take advantage of the Volunteers in Asia (VIA) Indonesia Research Program partnership with Haverford's Center for Peace and Global Citizenship.
