Milking shed symbolizes international cooperation

Milking shed symbolizes international cooperation

Fabio Scarpello, Contributor, Bali

In the tiny east Balinese village of Delod-Yeh, a milking shed
equipped with state-of-the-art European machinery to milk 12 cows
is tangible proof of how international cooperation can work at a
local level and change ordinary people's lives.

"Prior to the project, all the young people were leaving and
the village was dying. The milking shed has not only provided
jobs but it has also set an example. Now the young know that, if
they want, they can make things happen here in the village and
that they do not need to leave," village head I Nyoman Astawa
told The Jakarta Post.

The impact of the project on the villagers' lives is no small
deal. An estimated 20 percent of the 800 villagers are connected
to the operation, which employs 20 full-time staff.

In addition to being clean, efficient, fully mechanized and
well above the standards normally offered by Indonesia's milk
industry, the operation has provided other means of revenue for
local farmers who provide food for the cows.

It is also intended to be a cow-breeding and training center
for members of the local agribusiness association.

A snapshot (see photo) that shows Pedro, a two-month-old
black-and-white calf, being stroked by then EU ambassador Sabato
Della Monica and Italian Ambassador Francesco Mario Greco, brings
into the picture two of the other protagonists of this success
story: The European Union and Italy.

Another partner is the village of Delod-Yeh, which welcomed
the initiative and provided the land and building required for
the project.

"The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the
agricultural development of the island of Bali by transferring
European technology and skills and creating local jobs and
opportunities," said Della Monica on November 25.

On that date, like his Italian counterpart, Della Monica made
the journey from Jakarta to the little village to officiate the
"soft opening" of the milking shed, which, after having been
financed through EU small project facilities for 11 months, is
just about to go solo.

What will follow is a collaboration between the project and
the Italian experts of the Valchiavenna Mountain Community, who
have been involved since the beginning.

"The staff have been trained by the very best European experts
and they are now ready to be self-sufficient," said a beaming
Guido Beretta, the main man behind the project.

Guido, a literature and history professor, and jack-of-all-
trades by choice, left Milan and the comfort of his life there
nine years ago, moving to Bali on a permanent basis. Like his
wife, Monica, a former bank clerk who joined him soon after, he
has not looked back since.

"We started by producing coffee and then we moved to
mozzarella -- the full-fat Italian cheese normally spread on
pizzas," said Guido, adding that the difficulty in obtaining
high-quality milk spurred him on to set up the stable.

"Bali does not produce milk but imports it from Java. The milk
is medium- to low-quality, and due to the monopoly and
transportation costs, it's overpriced," he said.

However, setting up the milking shed was not easy. Guido
started working on the project in early 2003. In December of the
same year he got the nod and funding from the EU, which got the
ball rolling in February.

According to Guido, the most difficult aspect was to get the
local administration to help. "In the beginning they seemed
suspicious of foreigners," he said.

Another difficult task was to find out the family history of
the cattle, essential in guaranteeing the quality of the milk
that they would produce.

"Indonesia does not have a developed system to trace the
genealogy of cows and it took us a long time and a lot of work to
be sure that we had good, healthy animals," said Guido.

Notwithstanding the difficulties, the project has progressed
and has become an integral part of village life.

Dances, speeches and the well-known Balinese hospitality were
on display at the opening ceremony where, besides European
diplomats, local authority representatives and heads of families
were present.

It came down to Ambassador Greco to sum up the mood of the day
when he said, "It is small projects like this that allow our
countries to forge closer relationships and to understand each
other better".

With a gamelan orchestra playing in the background it seemed
that this small part of Europe, and of Italy in particular, had
found its rightful place in a corner of the Island of the Gods.