Butet Manurung loved adventure and the outdoors as a kid. Naturally, this love led her to complete her degree as well as a Master’s in anthropology. She was working for a conservation NGO when the roads led her to the rainforests, where she met the indigenous Orang Rimba or forest people of southern Sumatra.

She earned their trust and they wanted her to teach them, so Manurung put her mind to contextual education. She pioneered a course of alternative learning for the Orang Rimba through the Sokola Rimba or “Jungle School”, focusing on basic literacy and relevant life skills, which builds on the local wisdom and ways of living of the people as teaching materials. Over the years, the organisation has helped the community self-identify their problems so they can face the external forces that threaten their environment. Manurung also wrote a book on her experiences with the school which was made into a film by noted director Riri Riza, the man behind mega-hits such as Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops) and Ada Apa dengan Cinta? 2 (What’s Up with Love? 2).

For her work, Manurung has received global recognition including UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Award in 2001 and TIME Magazine’s Hero of Asia in 2004. She has also received several accolades including an Ashoka Fellows Award in 2006, being designated one of Asia’s Young Leaders in 2007, and Ernst & Young’s Indonesian Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012.