The May 2007 earthquake virtually destroyed the businesses of traditional ceramics artisans in the Kasongan district of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Kilns, workspace, and raw materials were damaged and rendered useless, leaving hundreds of artisans without the tools they needed to bring them out of the rubble and rebuild their lives
from Relief International website: www.ri.org
Another project currently being done is taking place in Kasongan, another center of ceramic production in Yogyakarta. For this project, called “Developing Livelihoods Through a Common Service Facility,” Pekerti is working with Relief International. Founded in 1990, Relief International (RI) provides emergency, rehabilitation and development services that empower beneficiaries in the process. RI’s programs include health, shelter construction, education, community development, agriculture, food, income-generation, and conflict resolution. RI employs an innovative approach to program design and a high quality of implementation performance in demonstrating deep and lasting impact in reducing human suffering worldwide.
Both organizations, Pekerti and Relief International are co-operating to achieve the purposes of the project, which are:
- Giving trainings to producers. The training will cover on marketplace, Finishing techniques workshop, Joint kiln-construction and Advance design workshop.
- Pekerti will design structures and number of kilns to accommodate the group producers’ activities and workspace.
- Joint group training and mentoring. Five workshops will cover on co-operation principles, strategic planning, co-operation management, assistance on co-operation/business planning and financing principles and practices.