Kabar Itah

Edition 50 : October-December 2016

Editorial Kahayan Villages are all set for next year’s

As we are about to enter a new year, it’s an opportune development actions
time to look back and reflect on some key moments
in 2016, and to look forward to some special
opportunities coming up in 2017.
It was a rather tumultuous year with people coming
and going in YTS, and with projects closing and
other ones starting up or moving into new phases.
It’s difficult to capture it all in this short column, so it
will be a selective look at what happened. One of the
notable examples was the large ASGM project we are
implementing under the leadership of the Artisanal
Gold Council, which started formal implementation
in October. It felt good to move out of the planning
mode and to move closer to creating an example of
responsible community gold production in Indonesia.
The closure of the Ford Foundation governance Village government in Koroi Village requested YTS to provide in-depth assistance for their
project in Gunung Mas was another landmark, as management and reporting of the Village Fund or Dana Desa
it was a unique, four-year collaboration between
an NGO, YTS, and the local district government in
Gunung Mas, a rather unheard of combination in
Indonesia. It also started on pretty rocky footing Since it started and became our regular end-of-the-year event, the
before people in the government realized the special YTS annual village review sessions have always generated valuable
benefits that the project was bringing their way, in reflections and insights into our activities with the community. This year,
particular the practical training, technical assistance
and useful guidance from well-qualified experts in the the main focus was the Village Fund or Dana Desa, and its implications
field of governance. for all aspects of village development. A total of 121 men and 89 women
Finally, we sadly lost one of our original founders, participated in the review sessions that took place in 13 villages within our
Pak Sumbin, at the age of 96. He was one of our three partner subdistricts.
most stalwart supporters from the Kahayan Dayak
community, and we will miss the special energy he As one of the products of the new Village Law, the Dana Desa and APBDes
brought into the office whenever he visited. We wish or the Village Development Budget require a high level of financial and
him well on his onward journey.
reporting management, as well as good governance practices in order
In 2018, we look forward to continuing the forward to ensure accountability and equitable community participation. In
and upward momentum generated in 2017. We will
be starting our first, formal social forestry project in each of the village review session, we had dynamic discussions with
one subdistrict in the upper Kahayan River; and this community members to look closely at what worked and what didn’t,
will be a great learning experience for us and the mainly in implementing the Dana Desa, but also in other aspects of YTS’s
eight communities we will be working with there.
community development activities.
In closing, and on behalf of everyone involved in YTS, I
wish you all the very best for 2018. Thank you for your The process was rewarding and showed some positive improvement
continuing support. through the community’s critical comments, reflections and suggestions
on what we have gone through over the course of 2016. While most
Bardolf Paul results suggested that the village government still needs support in
Executive Director

continued to page 3
Profile: Priadi, the new Village Head, a former KKC beneficiary
Priadi was born in Tumbang Koroi 26 years ago, to a farmer family.
He chose to study at the nursing academy because such skills
would help him land a job that would bring him back to the
village and make a decent income, compared to the farm life he
grew up in.
For Priadi, his parents and his oldest sister played an important
role in supporting him to study and to help him become the
person he is today. He was appointed village head after putting
Priadi (middle), a former KKC scholarship beneficiary from Tumbang Koroi, just
started his career as the head of his village, one step closer to his mission of giving
back to the community
Taking the community’s aspiration for better project design in Bukit Batu
The need for and access to business capital was obviously one
of the main concerns for our community partners in Bukit Batu
when they want to take their current livelihood activity to the
next level and make it an income-generating activity. This was
indicated by most Focus Group Discussion participants during
the external evaluation of the project in October. Despite our
continuous assistance in providing training and capacity building
to improve the small-business activities in Bukit Batu, many
participants expressed their inability to continue due to limited
capital. In Marang, the villagers asked YTS to change the approach
to not only provide training, but also capital, so they can apply
the knowledge gained from the trainings on chicken and fish
cultivation, vegetable gardening, and organic fertilizer
production.
With support from the Susila Dharma International
Association, we were able to conduct an independent
evaluation for our programs in Bukit Batu. The evaluation
was conducted over five days by Entin and Anna from
West Java, and covered all YTS activities in six villages from
2009 to 2016. They also looked at coordination activities
with government, such as the Fishery & Animal Husbandry
Agency, the Environment Agency, and the subdistrict and
village staff. In total, 74 people participated in the Focus
Group Discussions: 48 of them were men and 26 were
women.
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himself forward as a candidate, using his experience as a village
facilitator in the program of the former Governor, Teras Narang, in
Karetau Sarian, as well as getting support from the community.
His biggest challenge will be dealing with the community that
doesn’t understand village government and doesn’t support the
program for village development, and that doesn’t want to work
together. If the village wants to move its development forward,
the challenge will be in coordinating and synchronizing them to
engage with the village development program.
Priadi was a Kalimantan Kids Club (KKC) beneficiary for two years
from 2014 – 2016. He found the KKC scholarship to be very helpful
in helping to pay for his living needs and tuition.
In general, he feels that the education challenge in his village is
the limited teaching resources, because education can be a very
powerful asset for the work situation.
He would like to see YTS continue the KKC program and to
encourage young beneficiaries to use the money carefully, using
it only for educational purposes. He’s sure it’s the key to success.
For Priadi, there’s never a single fool-proof strategy for success, but
to never try is a definite road to failure.
The evaluation was meant to provide recommendations for
YTS to design its future approach in the subdistrict based on
the analysis and findings in the report. Our community partners
have been very supportive for this initiative, providing clear
and thorough information for the two external evaluators. We
commissioned a similar evaluation for our Kahayan Project a
few years back, and used the results as the basis to modify our
methodology, with rewarding results. We expect the information
provided by the community will help us design better program
activities that better suit their current needs, and eventually will
bring tangible benefits to their livelihoods, and the development
of the subdistrict.
Entin (blue head scarf ) and Anna (white head scarf ), the external evaluators for the Bukit Batu
Project, stimulated a lively discussion during their FGD session with women in Sei Gohong Village
Stakeholders join forces addressing the multifaceted issue of artisanal mining
Murshid, who went on to explain
that, as one of the countries signing
the Minamata Convention, Indonesia
is very committed to reduce and
whenever possible, to eliminate the use
of mercury in small scale mining. He
closed his remarks by raising his hope
that this collaboration can bring about
solutions for the ASGM community,
in a way that helps them to work
economically and safely, but at the
same time protect the environment.
The meeting involved various
Supriyanto, AGC Assistant Project Manager, explained the project design and how the stakeholders may
contribute to project implementation according to their expertise and resources stakeholders, from government officials
at the province and district level, Civil
Society Organizations, academia, to
artisanal miners themselves.
Although mining has been a major part of community life in
Before discussing further about project intervention, everyone in
Central Kalimantan for a long time, it has never been formally
the room agreed to the fact that traditional mining is one of the
recognized as an economic livelihood, regardless of the
significant livelihoods for many people. To be able to talk about
significant economic influence the sector created, even at an
this openly, made discussions about the other sectors affected
international scale.
by mining, easier and more practical. As a result of this meeting,
During the kick-off meeting of the AGC-YTS ASGM Project in the understanding of the participants about responsible ASGM
Palangka Raya at the end of November, we took the opportunity in Indonesia started to develop. From health impact, technology
to share many of the aspects that are characteristic of artisanal intervention, market access, to policy making, the discussion in
gold mining, including the economic importance of the sector. each group went very smoothly, and everyone was excited to
contribute their thoughts on what can be done to improve the
Murshid Marshono, Head of the Provincial Environment Agency,
sector and make it more legal.
opened the meeting with some strong remarks recognizing that
YTS and AGC should address this particular issue in its Artisanal With the support from the Government of Canada, pilot
and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) project. “We cannot ignore activities will be implemented in Central Kalimantan.
the fact that ASGM has strongly influenced the community’s Collaboration with AGC brings a long history of experience
economy, but at the same time, the environment is at risk with working in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. AGC will lead the
the use of mercury and other dangerous chemicals”, explained project and YTS will be the implementing partner in Indonesia.

Kahayan Villages are all set for next year’s development actions
continued from page 1

understanding the administration process of the APBDes
reporting, they also have improved a great deal in generating
active participation from the community in village development
activities. With this in mind, it seems that the villagers all agreed
that YTS should continue to assist the process, and facilitate the
growth of their capacity to better control village development
and finances.
In addition, women’s participation, at least in terms of
attendance, has been increasing, showing similar numbers to
men’s participation. We hope that this level of involvement will
only grow, and that women will start to see the value of being
engaged in their village planning. This should lead to increased
confidence in voicing their aspirations and eventually will create
more informed decision-making on the choice of development
programs in their village.
At the end of each review session in every village, we reviewed
all the activities in 2016, listing all the completed plans from the
2016 RKP Desa or the Village Development Plan, revising the
2017 RKP and developing the village development plan.

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Networking : Basara Youth Camp
Between 29 December and 7 January, we participated
in the 10-day Basara Youth Camp, an international
youth gathering in Rungan Sari, Central Kalimantan. The
youth camp brought together the younger generation
in one place and at one time to connect, share, and
make an impact by developing something valuable for
themselves, the world, and Kalimantan. YTS also hosted
a field visit by the participants to two of our fish project
Participants of Basara Youth Camp with the villagers of Tangkiling after visiting
sites close to Rungan Sari and introduced them to our one of the livelihood group’s fish ponds
Kalimantan Kids Club scholarship program.

News Flash Agenda

January
CIRDI Field Visit
GPS and Mapping Training for all staff
As part of our involvement in a research study led by the University of Kahayan
Edinburgh and funded by the Canadian International Resource Development
Lestari Project kick-off meeting
Institute (CIRDI), we spent five days in Murung Raya district at the beginning
of December. The visit was intended to gain an understanding of the social Field Preparation
setting around the artisanal gold mining sites of Beringin and Marindu, and Village Musrenbang
to assess the implications of the legal status of licensed mining areas on the Bukit Batu
dynamics of mining. A follow up visit is planned for early 2017. Coordination with Government for KUB legal status
Monitoring fish pond
PSC Meeting
ASGM
The Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the AGC-YTS ASGM Project held its Follow-up meeting with Provincial Health Agency
first formal meeting on the 17th of November. The PSC consists of the Ministry Gender Training for YTS Staff
of Environment & Forestry, Ministry of Mining & Energy, and Coordinating Health Training for YTS Staff
Ministry of Economy Affairs. Several important things happened in this
Environmental Training for YTS Staff
meeting: the Project Implementation Plan was approved, along with the
Annual Work Plan, and the first two proposed pilot projects received approval.
February
Results from this meeting provided the basis for YTS to start implementing
the project. Kahayan
Subdistrict Musrenbang
Social Forestry Workshop Lestari Project socialization
CSR Forum in Kurun
In early December, YTS attended a Social Forestry Strategy Workshop, held
by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in Palangka Raya. The topics Bukit Batu
discussed were in line with our need to learn more about the social forestry Facilitating Training Centre activity plan
initiative and process, and the required skills and knowledge to do it. This Monitoring fish pond construction results
knowledge is important for us to support our upcoming Participatory Subdistrict Musrenbang
Mapping initiative under the USAID-LESTARI project.
March
Kotaku Workshop
Kahayan
YTS attended a workshop on information dissemination and communication District Musrenbang
strategy for ‘KOTAKU’ the National Slum Upgrading Program that was Lestari Project socialization
conducted on the 2nd and 3rd of November, hosted by the Provincial Public
Works Agency. Around 30 people attended this event, including various Bukit Batu
related government agencies, the KOTAKU Working Team (POKJA), and some District Musrenbang
NGOs from Central Kalimantan. This event aimed at disseminating information ASGM
and discussing communication strategies for the program. Preparation for equipment installation

LESTARI Project gets the Green Light

Kabar Itah
The year 2016 was nicely capped off with some very good news for YTS. Kabar Itah is the quarterly newsletter of Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta (YTS), an affiliate of PT.
After waiting for several months for the ‘green light’ for our proposed project Kalimantan Surya Kencana (KSK), a mineral exploration company.

on ‘Collaborative Management and Sustainable Forest Initiative in Gunung Published by:

Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta
Bank Accounts:
Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta
Mas’, at the end of December we received final approval from USAID-LESTARI Jl. Rajawali VII, Srikandi III No. 100
Bukit Tunggal Palangka Raya 73112
BNI 1946
Palangka Raya Branch
to move ahead with implementation. The kick-off meeting and agreement Kalimantan Tengah-Indonesia Central Kalimantan
Telp. +62 (0536) 3237184 INDONESIA
signing is scheduled for January 2017. Fax. +62 (0536) 3229187 Number 0114981608
Email: tambuhaksinta@gmail.com Swift: BNINIDJA
Website: www.tambuhaksinta.com

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