\'High Flavor\' Takes Off in Doudo Village

KOMPAS/ADI SUCIPTO

Residents of Toba kampung, a neighborhood unit (RT) in Doudo village of Panceng district, Gresik regency, East Java, head out on Monday (23/7/2018) to participate in their community development program. Each RT of the village has its own community development program that focuses on environmental management and community empowerment, such as Eling kampung’s innovative and creative environmental education program.

An amazing women’s movement has borne fruit in Gresik, East Java. It has received multiple awards, even national acclaim, and has helped improve the local residents’ welfare.

“Rasane Sundul Langit” (highly flavorful) is the slogan of Mbok-mbok Doudo, a women’s group in Doudo village of Panceng district, Gresik regency, East Java. Their skillful hands transform aloe vera into candies, ice creams, shaved ice, vegetable sticks, juice and crackers. They also turn cashew fruits into flavorful beverages.

The foods and beverages produced by the housewives – most of whose husbands work in Malaysia – have taken off.

Armisda, a Mbok-mbok Doudo member, said on Monday (23/7/2018) said that cashew fruits could be used to make fresh juice. The pulp from the fruit can also be made into pepes (food steamed in banana leaves) and sweets.

The cashew nuts are made into snack products or sold raw. Each harvest season produces 30 tons of cashew nuts, most of which are distributed to Jombang and some to Mbok-mbok Doudo. The group sells cashew fruit juice for Rp 800 per cup. Every day, it also produces 80 to 150 small plastic cups of ice cream using vegetables. A cup of ice cream costs Rp 1,800. The ice cream is mostly sold at schools to encourage children to eat vegetables.

Napa cabbage is used in soursop ice cream, while choy sum is used in chocolate or avocado ice cream. Vegetable sticks are sold for Rp 8,000 to Rp 10,000 per pack, and are also sold online to Semarang, Bogor and Jakarta.

Aloe vera chips, crackers and candy are produced to order. Mbok-mbok Doudo has a monthly turnover of Rp 5 million in sales. Their food and beverage products have become the primary products of Doudo village, located about 35 kilometers from Gresik.

Doudo village is also home to the Wong Doudo Craft (WDC) organization, which manages a garbage bank and produces handcrafts. Its products include tissue boxes and piggy banks made from recycled materials and fabric. According to Doudo environmentalist Sutomo, Doudo was among the least developed villages in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1984, many villagers ventured abroad as migrant workers. The money they sent home funded the construction of the village hall.

The local living conditions were also a great concern. Water was hard to find, and the villagers defecated outside. In 2008, several villagers drilled wells and most of the population have had access to clean water since 2014. Each household now has their own toilet.

The villagers’ lifestyles became more hygienic with the hand washing with soap campaign. Health and hygiene has become part of the local lifestyle, which has extended to environmental management. The once barren Doudo village is now green and has made many achievements.

The village received 34 awards in 2014-2018. This year, Doudo village received the Indonesia Green Award in the clean water and waste management categories, in addition to the Upakarti environmental award.

KOMPAS/ADI SUCIPTO

A woman peels cashew nuts on Monday (23/7/2018) in Doudo village of Panceng district, Gresik regency, East Java. The area produces 30 tons of raw cashew nuts during a single harvest season.

Unique villages

Doudo village chief Asti Sufana said the village occupied 1,040,000 square meters and had a population of 1,490 comprised of 405 families. The village has six neighborhood units (RT), each named “kampung” and possessing a unique identity and excellence. Every kampung is green, and contributes to improving the health and income of its residents.

Today, every household grows at least three of the five main plant types – shade trees, productive plants, medicinal plants, ornamental plants or vegetables. "We have 10,000 srikaya [sugar apple] seeds from Tulungagung," said Asti. This year, Doudo received Rp 684 million in village funds.

Nurhidayati of RT 005 said that the villagers grew aloe vera in pots or in their yards, and tended to about 700 aloe vera plants. In RT 005, which has been named Aloe Vera kampung, the plant is not just an ornamental and is used to make crackers, vegetable sticks, candy, peanut brittle and dawet (shaved ice dessert).

Zubaidah of RT 001 said the Smart and Beautiful kampung, its other name, exterminated the larvae of mosquitos that spread dengue fever. Every house grows lavender and lemongrass, which repel mosquitos. Each household has a “larva monitor” who monitors the larvae to make sure they will not develop into adult mosquitos to spread dengue fever.

RT 003, also called the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) kampung, recycles waste, while RT 002 (Vegetable kampung) grows vegetables on the limited land for individual consumption and sales. "There are tomatoes, water spinach, mustard greens, broccoli, also long beans," said Listin of RT 002.

Meanwhile, RT 004 (e-Link kampung) is known for its environmental management innovations and runs a community waste treatment plant (WWTP). Household waste from 58 families is dumped into a landfill measuring 12 x 3 x 3 meters to prevent soil and water pollution. The kampung’s residents have also dug 600 biopori holes. "The waste from biopori can be used as fertilizer," said Deviyanti of RT 004.

Each house has a "Cigarette Parking Lot" sign indicating an outdoor smoking area, and provides makeshift ashtrays made from coconut shells or used cans for cigarette butts. The sign also carries a warning: “Don’t smoke inside the house to protect the health of women and children.” Cigarettes are put out in the “parking lot” before entering a house.

The Among Swa Arta (ASA) village-owned enterprise (BUMDes) has been established to promote synergy and continuity of the village empowerment program and to improve community welfare.

ASA sells clean water, helps the residents make their electricity bill and BPJS health insurance premium payments, and also markets Doudo’s products and handicrafts.

The village empowerment program was made possible through assistance from PT Pertamina Aset 4 (PA4), a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina.

Community development officer Slamet Achmad Rodi of PA4’s Doudo branch said that ASA’s monthly turnover reached Rp 6 million. Ten percent of its profits are distributed to the poor and to fund scholarships.

The waste bank also supported financial empowerment through its savings and loans, direct purchase, garbage-to-charity and educational funding facilities through recycling waste.

"Everything is for the welfare of all village residents," he said.

(AGNES SWETTA PANDIA)