Tak Ada Rotan, Koran Pun Jadi. It is our slogan in Bahasa to express the uniqueness of our products. Usually, most of weaving products made from rattan, thread, fabric, or plastic. Instead of producing handycrafts from such materials, we use newspaper as main resource to create weaved handycrafts. Our business itself started from Trash Bank in Sekolah Alam Bogor in 2009. The program operates to increase people awareness in taking care environment through collecting and sorting the trash. People who joined the program may change the collected trash into amount of money. While thinking about the those trash, we got many ideas to recycle them into various handycrafts. Because newspaper is one of the most available resources, we experimented a lot in turning them into many beautiful stuffs. Yeah, we made a lot of artwork from newspaper and getting immersed into our creation. Fortunately, after a hundred handworks, we found technique to make weaved handycrafts made from newspaper. We were astonished and exciting about what we made. It looks artistic and unique! Many our first buyers appreciated our works. “It is so creative and beautiful!” they said. Impressed with our product made them telling their friends about what we made. It spreaded around and we got a lot of orders in no time.
As we found that business has good prospective in market and benefit environment, we established Salam Rancage. It was founded by Aling Nur Naluri and A.A.I. Tri Dewi Permana in 2012.Due to need of manpower to, we plan to recruit many people to join. There are many prospective workers near our workshop, they live in Sindangsari village in Bogor, near our workshop. What we found in the village really shocked us. Many people lived in poverty that they spent no more than $2 a day and they work as freelance labors where they were paid unfairly. One of villagers we know got paid only 5,000 rupiahs (about 4 cents) for every 50 kilograms of cassavas she peeling off. The work took time and energy yet her job is unappreciated by the business owner. It is only one of examples we found among stories that prevail their struggling to live.
Salam Rancage offered them another activity with more and fair payment, provide them with alternative in economic choice. It is so meaningful to operate business while we help people to achieve better life. As we take a look deeper, we realized if this business turn into vehicle to empower people, assisting them to embrace awareness in many ways, especially in respecting environment, embracing social values, and distributing economic chance.
In our perspective, the business we established is the way to achieve our goal, which is to bring financial, social, and environmental harmony in community we empower, the artisans. Most of them are housewives from low income household and considered being suceptible if some unprecendented crisis happen with their families. Our activity locates in Sindangsari - Bogor and Palmerah - West Jakarta where the number of low income households are considered relatively high.
Financial harmony indicates when community is able to fulfil basic needs, not only based on material but also mental attitude. Our activity means to increase community income and teach them how to manage household consumption. Social harmony characterizes when community is able to nurture social capital and having initiative to contribute in solving social problem in their surrounding. Environmental harmony manifests when society embrace perspective in seeing environment as vital part of life, so they treat environment in respecting way. Our activity commits in supporting community to embrace those values within their life.
We design the product and taught the artisans how to weave handicrafts from reused newspaper. Since the majority of artisans are women and bear responsibility in nurturing their kids and doing household activities, we design empowerment model in which they can weave at home without leaving their prior tasks. As we received order from clients, the artisans will involve actively in making products according to the demands. They will receive payment based on the quality and quantity products they make in form of saving account which they can take anytime. Changing people and mindset is not an instant process like building sand castle. It takes time through consistent and several processes. Due to this consideration, we design our empowerment activity structurally and standard according to the needs of community. Our dream is not only to create skillful artisans, but also encourage them to become individual who benefit their family and society. We also assist the artisans to build their capacity building through various individual capacity building programs, for example leadership, organization, and financial planning training. We also established Trash Bank in the place where we conduct empowerment activity. The artisans and other people may join here to learn how to manage trash in responsible way. The establishment of trash bank not only benefit for society and environment, but also for our business as we can gather newspaper waste from society in more simple way.
Finance Manager
Production Manager
Founder and CEO, Head of Quality Control for goods to be marketed.
General Secretary
Quality Control & Purchasing manager
Production staff, packaging and ensuring production in accordance with the order.
