Training Hundreds of Women to Make Nastar, Sandiaga Uno: Earn Money to Welcome Ramadan

Creating employment opportunities, the Indonesia Setara Foundation (YIS) together with UMKM Sahabat Sandi held a Ramadan Dry Cake Baking Workshop.

The event, held on Jalan Pasar Atas in Cimahi, West Java, was attended by hundreds of housewives.

Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, founder of YIS, stated that YIS has three main focuses: empowerment of persons with disabilities, young people, and women.

This workshop forms part of the women’s economic empowerment programme that YIS consistently implements across various regions.

“One of the programmes we run continuously is Empowered Women. We teach culinary skills, such as training in Ramadan dry cakes,” said Sandiaga in a written statement on Monday (2 March).

He hopes participants can acquire new skills that can be immediately applied to start home-based businesses.

With the ability to produce and sell processed food, housewives are expected to build economic independence.

“The hope is that after participating in this training, the women will have skills and be self-reliant,” said Sandiaga Uno.

“They can earn money to welcome Ramadan,” he added.

Dewi Trianawati, chairwoman of UMKM Sahabat Sandi, stated that during the programme kick-off session, participants were equipped with skills to make two dried cake products: matcha cookies and nastar.

Both menu items were selected because their ingredients are relatively inexpensive, readily available, and flexible for modification according to sellers’ creativity.

Beyond technical skills, participants also received digital marketing training.

They were taught to create promotional flyer designs using artificial intelligence technology (Generative AI), whilst practising marketing strategies through social media.

“Interestingly, participants were immediately challenged to open pre-orders on the same day. From this challenge, a total of 29 orders were recorded, comprising 117 jars of nastar and 101 jars of matcha cookies,” she said.

With selling prices ranging from IDR 40,000 to IDR 50,000 per jar, participants recorded total revenue of approximately IDR 14,015,000 in just one day.

This programme does not end with face-to-face training.

YIS provides mentorship for the next month, including capital assistance in the form of free raw materials.

After the offline session, participants undergo three weeks of intensive mentorship. In this phase, they are facilitated to discuss with trainers, share experiences, and obtain solutions to various business challenges they face.

Participants are also guided to continue creating promotional content, optimise digital marketing strategies, and apply the knowledge they have gained in daily business practice.

“Through ongoing mentorship, we hope that housewives will be able to build sustainable businesses and provide real economic impact for their families,” she explained.