TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The survivors of the 2018 earthquake and tsunami in Sirenja, Donggala, are still trying to restore their life. With capital assistance and training, the community rises and develops businesses.

ULFA Asri now holds her mobile phone more often. Sometimes the 49-year-old woman opens Facebook, occasionally Tiktok, but not just for fun. “(To check) online sales,” said the resident of Tompe village, Sirenja Subdistrict, Donggala, South Sulawesi, on December 15.

Ulfa Asri is not alone in dealing with online sales. Some of her friends in the Usaha Bersama (Joint Business) Group, consisting of 15 women, also do the same activity. Ulfa is the group’s treasurer that was formed some time after the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed much of their and other villages in Central Sulawesi on September 28, 2018. The disasters took away people’s livelihoods. More than 4,300 people were dead and around 170,000 lost their homes.

There was a time when they got on separately, but in 2020, Ulfa and her friends were united in the Usaha Bersama Group. Started from producing and selling fish floss, now, their rented shop—located at the roadside of Jalan Madusila in Tompe—is full of goods. Three freezer storages are full of a variety of frozen processed seafood, beef and chicken, such as nuggets, sausages and meatballs. There are also two refrigerators. In a cabinet, several honey bottles from Sigi Regency are neatly lined up. They also sell banana chips and shredded coconut.

“For three months until September, we have obtained around Rp44 million,” said Raodatul Jannah the chairperson of the Usaha Bersama Group. “We divided some of the earnings (to group members) and put the rest as the group’s capital.”

The table at the shop that is normally used as the keeper’s worktable, which is done in turns by the group’s members, is piled up with notebooks on finance and business. “We take note of everything so that we know the development of our business, openly,” said Raodatul.

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ULFA Asri, Raodatul and many members of the Usaha Bersama Group are actually accustomed to doing business, although on a small scale. Before the 2018 disasters, these women only worked to fulfill their family’s needs. For example, Raodatul sold groceries on daily basis, Ulfa sold fritters and fresh drinks, another member, Lisnur, sold vegetables.

But the earthquake and tsunami had destroyed their assets and threw them to point zero. Slowly, Raodatul, Ulfa and the neighbors rose up. Still living in emergency shelters, some of them began to seek fortune. Raodatul sold cooked water. “After the disaster, finding clean water is extremely difficult,” said Raodatul. Ulfa also started to sell fritters.

Eventually, they received help from the Care Peduli Foundation and the Penabulu Foundation. “In the beginning, we tended to emergency response. Then only the longer-term recovery,” said Bonaria Siahaan, Chief Executive Officer of Care Peduli Foundation. “It’s important for the recovery of their livelihoods.”

In June 2019, after an assessment, the livelihoods recovery program—with funds from Aktion Deutschland Hilft and other organizations—was designed in accordance with the people’s needs and conditions. The aid recipients were chosen based on the most vulnerable to the effect of disaster, i.e. women.

There were also young people. “We choose the most vulnerable villages that have not received aid from other institutions,” said Tri Yonanita, the person in charge of the field from Satupena, when contacted on December 29, 2021.

Hilda Rumambi, program manager of Care Peduli, explained that they provided the aid in several forms. There was Rp107 million aid for each group, there was also direct aid to individuals in the form of capital assistance of Rp7 million and also food resilience aid of Rp855,000 for gardening. “This is a layered strategy.

Members of Usaha Bersama Group in their kiosk in Tompe, Sirenja, Donggala, Central Sulawesi, December 15, 2021.

If the individual business is unsuccessful, there is still a joint business. When both fail, at least there is still food resilience,” Tri Yonanita explained. The aid was disbursed in three stages since the start of 2021.

As many as 18 business groups, 15 women groups and three youth groups, were formed in the village of Tompe and Lompio in Sirenja. Meanwhile, in Kulawi subdistrict, Sigi Regency, 11 women groups and seven youth groups were also established. Every group consisted of 15 people.

They were guided to develop a business proposal by considering potential, capability and the market. They were given entrepreneurship training, in addition to training on disaster risk management and nutrition. “It’s simple business development. What the market looks like, how the marketing is,” Bona Siahaan said. “So it does not only restore the livelihoods but also build its sustainability.” They taught details like bookkeeping and financial management, as well as digital knowledge. “How to market in social media,” Hilda said.

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IN the beginning, the business groups started only by focusing on one venture. The Usaha Bersama Group only produced and sold fish floss. In Lompio village, the women groups of Melati and Sejati chose farming.

Sejati Group rents a 58 x 62 square meter garden which costs Rp3 million per year to plant vegetables, such as long beans, cucumber and spinach. Melati Group does the same by renting half a hectare of land and plants it with vegetables; once they planted the field with corn. “We harvest three times a week,” said Mardiyah, 51, chairperson of Sejati Group, while adding during the first three months, her group has reaped more than Rp3 million.

Members of Melati group preparing hydroponics farming, December 15, 2021.

They sell the vegetables in various ways. They sell them directly to sellers who come to the garden, some members sell the vegetables in the market, while others market them around the village by motorcycles. Meanwhile, for the garden management, they work in turns.

It did not take long for the business to develop. The Usaha Bersama Group has used the second and third aids to develop the business to sell a variety of food and rent shop. The Sejati Group bought a 58 x 52 square meter clove plantation and a 72 x 18 square meter coffee plantation. They have started to harvest coffee even though the amount is only around 8 kilograms. “(It) was sold for Rp16,000 per kilogram,” said Saida, member of Sejati Group.

At the same time, the Melati Group has added their businesses, which are savings and loans and pertamini (small-scale gas station). For the savings and loans business, people who were not the group’s members could borrow money with low interest. So far, according to Arwati, chairperson of the Melati Group, the savings and loans business and the pertamini had resulted profits of more than Rp2 million and Rp3 million respectively. “Farming gives profits of around Rp1.5 million per month,” said the 49-year-old woman. The Melati Group has now started a hydroponic gardening.

The women claimed not to have significant obstacles in developing their business. There was a time when the Sejati and Melati Groups failed in harvesting corn, but that did not break their spirit. Sometimes there were also small tensions among members. “But we are used to discussing it and it can be solved,” said Raodatul.

Member of Sejati group working in their vegetable farm in Lompio, Sirenja, Donggala, Central Sulawesi, December 15, 2021.

Quite the contrary, they admitted that they have gained huge benefits. Aside from the vegetable garden, they also have two businesses, individual business and group business that provide additional earnings. Besides share from the group, there is also earning from working in the group like from doing shop keeping. “So, (it is) enough to help family’s needs,” said Raodatul.

In addition, there is help during difficult times. “The group is like relatives, helping each other,” Ulfa Asri said. There is also the benefit of new knowledge.

According to Tri Yonanita their biggest contribution comes from the people. “They want to fight.” Nevertheless, they feel that they still need help. “We still need further training, like in packaging,” Raodatul said. Also, help in terms of the permit and halal (conforming to Islamic law) certificate.

On several occasions, Care Peduli and Penabulu connected these groups with relevant government institutions, such as the Cooperative Agency. “They will provide the trainings,” said Hilda. They also introduced market network and ready to accommodate the groups’ produces. This motivated the group. “We will keep developing the business as much as we can,” said Mardiyah.

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