Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Berkah Jaya Joint Business Group (KUB) has succeeded in empowering elderly women in Tidu Village, Purbalingga Regency, Central Java. Even though they are no longer young, KUB Berkah Jaya members continue to work to help the family’s economy.
This MSME success story started with the desire to learn to make knitting crafts and their skills actually had great potential. Not a few handicrafts made by these elderly women have been exported to a number of countries.
Chairman of KUB Berkah Jaya, Umiyati (62), admitted that from the start it was not difficult to gather members to work together. Moreover, the majority of them only help their husbands farm and do not have a fixed income.
Umiyati and other members started training on February 14 2015, which was also designated as the birthday of KUB Berkah Jaya. Starting from 25 women, the number of members has grown to 115 people and almost 90% are elderly women aged 45-55 years.
As time goes by, KUB Berkah Jaya members continue to increase and not only the elderly and pre-elderly. There are also young mothers who join as members.
“We held training together. Thank God, it was welcomed by the Purbalingga Regency Government,” said Umiyati in her statement, quoted on Tuesday (10/10/2023).
Meanwhile, since 2019, KUB Berkah Jaya has collaborated with an exporter from Solo to produce knitted crafts, ranging from elephant heads, giraffes, to laundry baskets. All of the knitted work made by seniors at KUB Berkah Jaya is exported to America and Thailand with total orders for knitted work reaching 700-1,000 items.
Umiyati said, with income from knitting work, it was easier for members to obtain capital loans. So every month they pay installments through KUB Berkah Jaya.
“Every time they knit, KUB Berkah Jaya women can earn up to IDR 1 million per month,” said Umiyati.
Furthermore, he explained that the sustainability of KUB Berkah Jaya was also assisted by the presence of BRI. Through the My Life Cluster program from BRI, this group receives support from both funding and training from BRI.
Apart from that, KUB Berkah Jaya also received BRI CSR assistance. This assistance is used to build infrastructure, purchase business equipment, and budget for training for KUB members.
The Klasterkujiwaku program has also benefited KUB Berkah Jaya members. Especially regarding basic, business and digital literacy which makes it easier for KUB members to get loans.
One member of KUB Berkah Jaya who felt this benefit was Siti. This farmer’s wife admitted that she was happy with the presence of BRI and learned about the benefits of banking.
He felt that it was easy to obtain loans from BRI and that many members of KUB Berkah Jaya had directly benefited from the presence of BRI.
“Now with the existence of KUB Berkah Jaya, we can get to know BRI. We can also get loans from BRI easier,” said Siti.
BRI Micro Business Director, Supari added that through the “My Life Cluster” program, BRI is committed to continuing to accompany and help MSMEs. Where not only in the form of business capital, but also in the form of various training and other empowerment programs.
“My life cluster is certainly very useful for business groups in getting support for empowerment programs. Hopefully, what is shown by KUB Berkah Jaya will become motivation and inspirational stories that can be imitated by other business groups in various regions,” he stressed.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
Next Article
Coming to Pati, the BRI Simpedes People’s Party has lots of fun!
(rah/rah)