
ACTNews, BANDUNG
REGENCY – Iya is a 53-year-old woman living in Ciganitri, Bojongsoang
District, Bandung Regency, who has been the breadwinner of her family for over
a decade since her husband fell ill. She sells fermented (pindang) fish to make ends meet. Although she doesn’t make that
much money, she is still grateful for the sustenance Allah has given her.
She gets the raw
fish from her neighbor at the price of IDR 30,000 per kilogram. She can
actually buy the raw fish for a much cheaper price of IDR 10,000 per kilogram.
However, she opts to buy raw fish from her neighbor because it costs her more
money and labor to get to the market. With only the limited capital she has, she
can’t afford to go to the market every day.
"I sell my
fermented fish to three or four villages. I start peddling at 6 a.m. and go
home at 4 p.m.,” said Iya, Friday (2/26/2021).
To get to these
villages, Iya has to take share taxis and motorcycle taxis. It costs her up to
IDR 50,000 a day. Earning only IDR 100,000 a day, the transport fare is too
much for her to bear, not to mention that she still has to share the profit she
earns with her neighbor from which she gets the raw fish.
In order to make
it easier for Iya to make a living, Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) provided her with
a motorcycle at the end of February. This is not the first time ACT visited her
to provide support for her business. Previously, ACT has provided business
capital through the Waqf for Indonesian Micro Businesses program.
"With this
new motorcycle, we hope that madam Iya can become an independent business owner
as it will be easier for her to get to the market to buy raw materials and to
sell her fermented fish, "said Husen Nurochman of Aksi Cepat Tanggap West
Java Program Department, Friday (2/26/2021).
Now that she has a
new motorbike, she can cut the transport expense. She also doesn’t need to walk
anymore to peddle her products. Husen estimated that Iya’s net income can
increase up to IDR 100,000.
"The
motorbike that ACT handed over to madam Iya is funded by the community’s
generosity. We hope that more acts of philanthropy can be done and benefit more
micro-business owners so that their economy can improve," hoped Husen. []