Meet Nana, a beneficiary from Sasak Satu Swara

Thank you very much for keep supporting Sasak Satu Swara, from Indonesia!

As a return to your valuable support, we would like to share with you this month’s Newsletter from the organization that we hope you’d enjoy!

 

Article of the month: Meet Nana, a beneficiary from Sasak Satu Swara

 

 

This month our Airfunding team had an interview with Nana. Nana is one of the beneficiaries of Sasak Satu Swara’s school in Lombok. Nana is 15 years old and she has been studying for more than a year in Levi’s school. She joined the school because she wanted to improve her English to become a tour leader.

Nana comes from a family that is facing a complicated family situation because her mother is the only breadwinner after the pandemic started. She has two brothers but due to both were working in tourism, after the pandemic started they have been unemployed and had to return home. Before the pandemic, the two brothers were working in Lombok’s touristic area and in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.

According to Nana, her life has improved since she joined the school. In the beginning, Nana was very shy to speak English but now is very confident in her skills. Now she is able to speak fluently in English and she has decided to become a teacher for the school once she graduates to help other kids to be able to learn English and to become a tour leader like her.

Nana is really grateful to the school for giving her the opportunity to achieve her dreams but like many girls in Lombok, these dreams could not be fulfilled if she end up being kidnapped. In Lombok is very common to suffer kidnapping from other men, and when this happens women are forced to marry. Some women were dating the kidnappers before, but some were not. Sometimes they kidnap the women even when they don’t agree to do so. In the Sasak tribe, this is a normal practice to ask for marriage to the girls. Levi has been trying to protect these girls to marry so soon and educating them to convince them that marrying at a really young age is not a good idea.

On the island of Lombok, it is still allowed ‘kidnapping’ but the law is clear and says that kidnaps are only allowed when the men and women come from the Sasak tribe. So, if you are wondering if you could be kidnapped, the answer is no. Kidnapping a foreigner or someone from another tribe is against the law.

But for the girls of Lombok, the reality is different. They are kidnapped since they are 15 and sometimes from people that are up to 60 years old. When they are kidnapped they don’t suffer any kind of sexual or physical abuse and is it still possible to say no to the marriage offer. But the reality is that there is a big stigma and pressure for the women, that force them to marry after they are kidnapped. According to Levi, 97% of the kidnapped women agree to the marriage. Some people believe that this happens because meanwhile they are kidnapped they use some kinds of magic that are used on the girls to convince them to marry the men.

After marriage, the future of most of the women is to cook and take care of the house. So most of them leave their jobs or are not even allowed to work. But sometimes, the husbands don’t bring enough support to the family, but women are not skilled enough to get a job.

What Levi has been trying to do is to give skill to young girls so they could get a job and survive whenever they need, so they don’t need to depend economically on their husbands and be financially independent.

 

We hope to hear more cases like the one from Nana, so hopefully more girls would get enough skills to find a job in Lombok.

 

 

A picture of Nana

 

 

We would also like to say thank you to our supporters for contributing to making it possible that all these girls in Indonesia to receive an education.

 

 

CULTURE OF INDONESIA

 

The most famous drinks in Indonesia

 

1. Saraba

 

Sara’ba is a hot drink native to Makassar, South Sulawesi, most commonly consumed in the colder months. It is made with ginger, sugar, and coconut milk, topped with peanuts, slices of bread, and pacar cina (tapioca pearls), and it has a sweet yet spicy flavor.

 

2. Batavia Arrack

 

Batavia arrack hails from Java, and it is produced from sugarcane molasses, red rice cakes, and occasionally small amounts of toddy—fermented palm juice. Often compared to rum, the drink is quite potent with herbaceous, nutty, smoky, and subtly spicy flavors and aromas.
The exact time when Batavia arrack originated is not known, but it has long been in existence before the Dutch settled East India Company on Java—which makes arrack one of the oldest distillates in the world, and a predecessor to all new world spirits such as gin, whisky, or brandy.

 

3. Soda Gembira

 

Soda gembira is a traditional Indonesian non-alcoholic beverage that is especially popular with children of all ages. It is made with a combination of three ingredients – coco pandan syrup, condensed milk, and carbonated water. The proportions of ingredients may vary, but soda gembira typically has a bright pink color after all ingredients have been combined.This sweet and creamy drink is most often consumed on hot summer days.

 

.4. Kopi Joss

 

Kopi joss is a specialty coffee that originated in Yogyakarta. What makes this coffee unique is the addition of burning charcoal that is added directly in a cup of brewed coffee. The addition of charcoal is believed to have health benefits, and many also find that burning charcoal neutralizes acidity and provides a subtle caramel flavor to the brew.

The drink allegedly first appeared in the 1960s as an invention of a local street vendor. Nowadays, several coffee vendors, located mostly in tourist areas of Yogyakarta, prepare and sell this specialty.

 

5.Sekoteng

 

Native to Central Java, sekoteng is a ginger-based hot drink made with simple ginger syrup and condensed milk. It is topped with sagoo pearls, palm fruit, coconut, diced bread, and peanuts. The drink is sweet in flavor with different textures created by the various toppings.

Sekoteng is most commonly sold in the evening by cart vendors; it is said that drinking it in the evening will keep the body warm and help with sleep.

 

6. Wedang Jahe

 

Wedang jahe is a refreshing Indonesian beverage believed to have soothing and calming properties. The drink is a simple combination of crushed or diced ginger, palm sugar, and water. The ingredients are slowly simmered until the sugar melts, and the water is thoroughly infused.

Optionally palm sugar can be replaced with cane sugar or honey, and the drink can be flavored with pandan leaves or spices. Wedang jahe is usually associated with Java, and it can be enjoyed as a warm or chilled drink.

 

7. Bajigur

 

Bajigur is a hot drink, native to the Sundanese people of West Java, Indonesia. Full of sweet and spicy flavors of ginger, aren sugar, and coconut milk, this beverage is most commonly paired with traditional snacks such as steamed bananas, boiled peanuts, or boiled sweet potato.

Bajigur is sold through mobile vendor carts equipped with stoves that keep the drink hot and is considered best suited for drinking during cold nights, rainy days, or when spending time in cool highlands.

 

8. Kopi Luwak

 

Indonesian kopi luwak is often cited as the most expensive coffee in the world. It is made from coffee beans that are digested and excreted by the civet (luwak)—a catlike mammal that is native to Southeast Asia—before they are washed, ground, and roasted.

It is believed that when the coffee beans pass through the animal’s digestive tract, they lose their astringency, which makes the coffee softer, smoother, and less bitter. The coffee was allegedly discovered in the 19th century during the Dutch colonial rule when the local farmers were forbidden to harvest coffee for their personal use.

 

 

   A picture of the Kopi Luwak

 

 

Remember that you can directly communicate with Sasak Satu Swara in the Supporters Community on Facebook. Don’t forget to join the community if you haven’t done it yet, by clicking on the following link!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/444621313260902