Training shows a living can be made from seashells<\/p>\n
By Kosasih Derajat<\/p>\n
CIREBON, West Java (JP): A workshop and vocational training
\nexploring seashell handicrafts may not pique the interest of
\nseasoned urbanites.<\/p>\n
Yet they are important for people living in coastal areas with
\nan abundance of clams and oysters, but who have not been able to
\nexploit them as materials for artistic creations.<\/p>\n
The training has been jointly conducted by local non-
\ngovernmental organization Yayasan Ketrampilan Indonesia and Land
\nLease Foundation Australian for 60 unemployed young people in
\nCirebon regency, about 300 kilometers east of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Cooperation between peoples from the two countries was mostly
\nunaffected by the strained ties between Jakarta and Canberra
\nafter an Australian-led peacekeeping force was sent into ravaged
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
Land Lease Foundation Australia -- a member of the Indonesia-
\nAustralia Business Council -- provided some Rp 60 million
\n(US$7,500) for two workshops conducted in the coastal regency's
\nvillage of Gebang in October 1999 and last month.<\/p>\n
\"The aim of the workshops is to help the local people to
\nincrease their meager income by artistically exploiting things
\naround them,\" the NGO's general manager, Ramadhan HA, told The
\nJakarta Post during a recent site visit.<\/p>\n
The workshops, which are free to participants, focus on
\ncrafting the ubiquitous white, flat seashells of the area,
\nlocally known as Kerang Simping, for use as ornaments on
\nlampshades, cake platters and screens. A daily transportation
\nallowance of Rp 5,000 is provided to each participant.<\/p>\n
After completing the two-week training, participants are
\nemployed by a local handicrafts firm, CV JR, which manufactures
\nand exports the merchandise.<\/p>\n
The firm's director, Jimmy Romeo, said that he exported two
\ncontainers of handicraft products worth US$40,000, including
\nitems made by ex-trainees, to European countries such as France,
\nItaly, the Netherlands, Poland and Hungary.<\/p>\n
\"The prospects for the business are good and there is an
\nabundance of the raw materials here,\" said Jimmy, who was already
\ninvolved in the handicrafts business before he moved to Cirebon
\nfrom Palembang, South Sumatra, several years ago.<\/p>\n
With his optimism about the business, he said he was planning
\nto hire 500 more workers for the handicraft center from the
\npresent 100. He said the training and its provision of workers
\nready for hire was a great help to him because it saved his firm
\nfrom spending on costly training fees.<\/p>\n
Gebang village chief Moch. Sulam also thanked the NGO and
\nJimmy's firm for the training and employing job seekers from his
\nvillage.<\/p>\n
\"I am proud if our village and people can become known abroad
\nbecause of the good quality seashell products.\"<\/p>\n
He said there should be more training and the provision of
\nbetter quality production tools to ensure high-quality products.<\/p>\n
\"To be able to accommodate more participants in the training
\nprograms that eventually provide more job seekers to the shell
\ncenter, we need more space and infrastructure,\" Ramadhan said of
\nSulam's demand.<\/p>\n
He also asked the village chief to be more active in ensuring
\nthe provision of the necessary land and road to support the
\ntraining program.<\/p>\n
Seventeen-year-old Yanti said the training was a turning point
\nin her life.<\/p>\n
\"I had been jobless since I finished junior high school in
\n1998,\" said Yanti, who now receives a daily wage of Rp 4,000 as a
\nworker at the firm.<\/p>\n
Yudi, 25, said he and 25 other natives of Palembang were
\nrecruited to the center as trainees and workers.<\/p>\n
\"We came here for a better life because in Palembang we worked
\non an off due to the lack of raw materials. Besides, the wages
\noffered here are better,\" said Yudi.<\/p>\n
The coastal regency, known as the \"The Town of Shrimp\" due to
\nits abundant shellfish, has not fully developed its economic
\npotential. The economic crisis, which first struck in mid-1997,
\nhit the regency particularly hard.<\/p>\n
Statistical data from the regency reveal that 123 villages, or
\n29 percent, from the total of 424 are categorized as poorly
\ndeveloped.<\/p>\n
Some 270,000 families, equivalent to about one million people
\nor 55 percent of the regency's population, are also classified as
\npoor. The unemployment rate of the regency is 8.4 percent,
\nhigher than the West Java provincial level of 5.98 percent.<\/p>\n
Although dozens of export-oriented industries and star-rated
\nhotels are operating in the adjacent mayoralty of Cirebon, the
\nregency's annual per capita income is Rp 1.8 million (US$225).<\/p>\n
The young and child beggars, one visible gauge of the poverty
\nof an area, roam many streets in the area.<\/p>\n
Traditional jobs which are available are seasonal farming,
\nmanual fishing and retail trading.<\/p>\n
Many jobless men have resorted to becoming drivers of becak
\n(pedicab). There is a glut of drivers, who aggressively compete
\nto get as many passengers as possible. Most of the pedicabs
\nbelong to the drivers.<\/p>\n
The NGO's executives acknowledge the vocational training is a
\nsmall effort toward stopping the cycle of poverty and putting
\npeople on the road to a better life.<\/p>\n
They argue that every little helps.<\/p>\n
\"What we do here is like a drop of water in the desert,\"
\nfoundation secretary Basuki Pramadio said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/training-shows-a-living-can-be-made-from-seashells-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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