Cheers,
Marc

Thanks for forwarding the project plans to IBI.

I am including in the next comment a another summary of how this project came about and a little about the target groups Dian Tama Foundation works with. They just sent it to me a couple of days ago.

Thanks again,

Marc

In 1996, Dian Tama Foundation established P2WP program (Rural Women’s Role Enhancement) with the specific aim to assist women in some areas of West Kalimantan.

The purpose of this program was established because of Dian Tama’s concerns for the economic condition of the families / communities assisted in the Desa Ilir Kecamatan Toho Kabupaten Pontianak. Women play a very important role as housewives and apart from having to take care of the household, they also help their husbands supplementing household income, thus the importance of their role cannot be underestimated. Some of the activities they do are collecting rubber sap, farming, gardening, and wickerwork. This is done to help their husbands to make ends meet.

However, even though they work very hard, the economic conditions of the family always experiences a deficit. As a result, various hardships are often encountered such as dropout, child malnutrition, child-trafficking, etc… In part, this is due to a basic lack of knowledge and skills about managing the household economy and managing agricultural products.

In general, the main livelihood in the village of Toho Ilir is farming. Farm products are used for either personal consumption or for sale. These products include rice, vegetables, and fruits. The majority of the agricultural community still uses chemical fertilizers, which are costly, particularly during cultivation period.

The families of Mrs. Rosnah, Mrs. Ita, Mrs. Enti, Mrs. Esther, Mrs. Yuniti and Mrs. Rusiana are representative of the larger farming community of Toho Ilir. The six women above have an average of 2 to 3 children. Even though they are still within the ‘small family’ category, economic problems keep surfacing. This is because of lack of knowledge, skills, and socialization regarding farm and financial management.

The main sources of concern for these women are that their children will not be able to attain higher level of education, compromised health, and inadequate finance. Although they work in the farm all day long, the revenue they earn is not sufficient because of the huge expenses they incur paying for costly chemical fertilizers. However, the yield obtained is not offset by the expenses, and although sometimes they reach break even point, this is very rare. In fact, every year the community (particularly the families of the women above) have to buy rice because the harvest is not sufficient to last them for one year or to the next harvest cycle.

Dian Tama Foundation began to assist the farmers in Kecamatan Toho in 1993. As a result, the Integrated Charcoal Technology Development Center (PPTAT) was founded in Desa Toho Ilir, Kecamatan Toho, Kabupaten Pontianak, West Kalimantan. Until now, PPTAT continues to be a training center for the community to learn about charcoal technology and its application to agriculture, livestock, fisheries and forestry. The activities involved include organizing and overseeing the farmers to ensure the proper application of the charcoal compost technology to their farming practices so that they will no longer need to spend huge amounts on chemical fertilizers and start enjoying the benefits of this environmentally-friendly technique.

In 1996, Dian Tama Foundation through its ‘Rural Women Role Enhancing’ program began to encourage women to shadow the community (specifically other women) to confront the aforementioned problems and conduct activities and build teams to find the roots of their economic problems and farming practices, as well as to discover the potential challenges and opportunities. Dian Tama Foundation is now known by the community (women in particular) because of these activities and they have began to actively participate and form a groups. Through these group activities and events the women who participate gain skills and knowledge about proper technology for organic agriculture. The enthusiasm can be clearly seen by the increase in the number of women groups (P2WP) formed and the routine activities of the informal savings groups and the organic farming groups.

Organic farming is one of the objectives chosen by the women to create a better future. In addition to it’s low cost, improved soil fertility, better health, and solving financial woes, the children can attain higher level of education, the cost of healthcare is lowered, and no cost is incurred to manage the farm.

DIAN TAMA FOUNDATION

Hien tai, ngoai chuong trinh Biogas, Thien Chi con thuc hien rat nhieu du an va chuong trinh khac, moi Quynh vào website thienchi.org de xem.

Mong dom nhan duoc hoi am cua Quynh

Vu Thi Anh

Hi Quynh,
My name is Anh – Thien Chi fundraising officer. I have read your question but did not understand clearly what you want to ask. Can you provide more details about the research you are proposing so that I can answer you clearly?

At present besides Biogas Systems Thien Chi also has many other projects. You can visit our website for more information – thienchi.org

Thank you,

Vu Thi Anh