We were warned with not-to-do things, some are rather ludicrous to begin with, such as not being able to wear red, not eating paddy rice, not this and not that. It’s very hard to imagine how life would be for us there before we got there, perhaps it would be very hard in the beginning. The millennials can’t even live without internet coverage for an hour. So, this is a challenge that we seek, to test our own limit.
For INVENT 2018, the participants (by group) presented their ideas and recommendation in front of the Cimahi Municipality. This initiative was meant to help people in the community; thus ensuring that the inclusivity of the Sunda Wiwitan community in Cireundeu.
You can discover further our business model plan that we have presented by clicking here : TOURISM
Writenn by Vu Tuan Hai, from Vietnam, a student at National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan.
Today is the first day at the Cireundeu Village where I stay with a local family. The locals performed their traditional musical instruments to welcome us. This shows that their preservation of tradition is very impressive. The village is very rustic, but it is less primitive than I thought. The notable feature is that cassava is the staple food.
Cassava field in Cireundeu village
I got the chance to eat rice made from cassava for the first time and I was so keen on it that I took it twice. In the afternoon, I roamed around the village under the guidance of a local boy and interpretation from a local university student. I furthered my understanding of how the locals process their poisonous cassava into products. I am not unfamiliar with cassava because my family planted it before, but I was wondering why it is called poisonous cassava although it is except when it is eaten raw. The word poisonous made it sound scary.
After the tour, I volunteered to perform the musical instrument called ANGKLUNG. This was the most memorable moment today because I am not musical. At first, I did it quite well until different groups performed together when I got lost in the beat. Helped by Mbak Ratih, I got the hang of it and started doing well. This proves that a can-do attitude can afford me to accomplish whatever I wish for. In the evening, I was given a symbol from the village as the only person from Vietnam and National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, which is an honour. I feel so blessed to have gotten selected for this programme although I am currently not an enrolled undergraduate student yet (just about to start college in the next semester). After this, our group discussed and sketched out the storyline for the video and what we are going to do tomorrow namely finishing design thinking and business model canvas.
DAY 5
Another day full of activities has started. In the morning, we went barefoot to the mountain area to plant trees. I tried my best to dig a hole that is wide and deep enough to fit the tree, and I did. I hoped the tree can grow well so that it can produce fruits for the villagers. After that, I realized that I had a blister in my palm due to using the hoe to dig the hole. It has been a long time since I last did something like that, so it is understandable. After that, we headed to the cassava and peanut plantation where I learnt about the harvesting time for these two types of tree. It takes around 3 months before peanut can be harvested whereas the duration for cassava is around 8-10 months, so these two produces complement each other throughout the year. Then I learnt how to plant cassava tree from a branch. I tried to chop it three times to make one end sharp so that it can be easily put into the soil and do the same for the other end to make it approximately 20 centimetres long. After that, we proceeded to harvesting the cassava.
What impressed me was that the locals did some rituals before plucking the cassava, which shows that they live so harmoniously with the environment and consider it as a part of their lives. Then, I had an opportunity to observe the process of removing skin and grating cassava into small pieces, which then be crushed into powder in a mortar.
In the afternoon, we observed the process of producing rice from cassava powder and tried producing eggrolls by ourselves. The cassava powder is mixed with water before being steamed for 30 minutes. Then it is cut into small pieces before being shaped, be it macaroni, noodle or rice. In the evening, I performed a musical instrument for the first time in my time. I got exposure to different cultures namely Indian, Malaysian and Sundanese cultures. I believe exposure to different cultures can eventually serve to deter cultural and religious prejudice. This is especially crucial when it comes to intercultural communication, which is a key skill in this increasingly globalised world.
Next, our group managed to finish the design thinking and business model canvas which will be presented at the local authority office in the next day. Our group focuses on the cassava business cluster development. We wish to boost the yield of cassava, which can help to increase the productivity of cassava products. Usually, when the land becomes infertile, it is left unused for 4 years so that it can recover. In order to for it to be used immediately, human waste should be added into the current natural fertilisers used in the village. We finished our group work around 10:30 p.m and are ready to present our ideas tomorrow.
DAY 6
Departing the village at 9 a.m, we headed for the local authority to present our ideas to solve any problems at Kampung Cireundeu that we figured out. I am impressed by the idea of making jam out of campoleh and the reundeu tea that were made by a group, which is brilliant. Then we took the bus to Jakarta.
Muhammad Tasyar Hadian, Universitas Katolik Parahyangan :
On the first day at Cireundeu, we arrived around 11 a.m. from UNPAR, which took us one hour to get there. Right after we arrived, we were welcomed by the traditional welcoming dance. It was really great how unique the Sundanese culture is. Sundanese people actually are famous by their kindness and also politeness, and that is what we found here. They treat us very well, served us with dinner and lunch and also had a lot of talk with them. The way they treat people actually is common and usual for me. Sundanese are such good people. They are very polite, friendly, and really funny. All those things are what we felt during that day.
The second day was kind of observing the community, how they plant some various trees and cassava as well. The trees and cassava planting was conducted by doing a traditional ritual. The Sunda Wiwitan tribe basically do the ritual by praising their god and also the nature. They also begin any kind of planting with some rituals that have a lot of meaning behind them. After done with the planting, we rested for a bit and and then had lunch and it was literally a good dish. We observed the community for 2 days and then we found the problem for their undeveloped food production, which are the limited of resources, lack of time of the people to work, and lack of permission for the product. On the last day in Cimahi, we presented our observation to the local government. What we presented was some ideas that we gave to the government and the Cireundeu community itself in order to develop their village.
Having spent a quality of three-day time in Cireundeu, a socially excluded village in Cimahi District, West Java, Indonesia, we felt that it’s been really unfortunate for the village to have faced such brutal consequences just for practicing a religion other than the six officially recognized religions by the Indonesian Government.
By focusing on its rich art, music and folk culture, we’ve made an humble attempt to propose a Business Model Canvas for a “Social enterprise” seeking to promote the village and reduce the negative impact of their circumstances. The presentation containing the findings and proposals made before the Mayor of Cimahi can be found by clicking the power point presentation file here.
Cireundeu is where Cassava serves as the main food for its people, and also their chance to promote their village to the world. As one of our efforts to promote the village to the world, we, the members of Group B are proud to present DenSing or Dendeng Singkong, which is a tender and spicy jerky made of Cassava skin and fish. Hopefully, by these DenSing product, Cireundeu can benefit their citizens and other citizens of Cimahi city as well.
You can find out about our business model plan by clicking on our power point presentation link below:
Description: studied and presented by group C for consideration by the Cimahi municipality under International Volunteering for Better Inclusivity program or better known as INVENT 2018. This initiative was meant to help people in the community fully utilizing the natural resources that can be found in Cireundeu village and turn them into valuable products for exports with the hope that it will help to increase the community’s economy whilst improving the perception of the people towards the villagers.
INVENT INDONESIA 2018 