This is How IPB University Students Preserve Garut Weaving

Tenocity or the abbreviation of “Tenun Community” is a community initiated by two IPB University students, namely Pahmi Idris and Ningrum Yuniarti, to empower non-productive women in producing Garut fabrics.  The Garut was chosen because it is already famous as a silk-producing region.  Starting from the material to the weaving, it’s just that woven fabric made from silk since 1982 slowly disappeared.

Non-productive women here is a condition of women who are at productive age or old age, which is marked by the reduction in energy to do work.  In Garut, as mentioned in the Ministry of Home Affairs data, there are 1,441 million people categorized as non-productive women.  This number is spread in several villages in Garut Regency.

“Through empowerment and training with the concept of sharing economy, it is expected to provide increased income and welfare for the people in Mekarluyu Village.  Moreover, Tenocity can be useful to preserve Garut’s unique local wisdom, namely woven cloth and increase the production of Garut’s typical woven cloth to meet domestic and international market share, “explained Pahmi.

Pahmi explained that the empowerment carried out in the Tenocity community was carried out through the Eltra (Elders Entrepreneurship Training) program.  Through this program, the women received training in the manufacture of Garut woven fabrics with the help of volunteers to further produce the woven fabrics themselves.  “Tenocity produces woven fabrics made by non-productive women with a simple production system but has a good sale value,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ningrum Yuniarti explained more about the Eltra program in Mekarluyu Village in the duration of eight to ten months conducted on weekends in the form of training, seminars, workshops and mentoring.  “Later modules will be made containing curriculum and indicators of success from each sub-program in Eltra,” he said.

Through their ideas, Pahmi and Ningrum won 1st place in the Young Leaders Regional Training Leadership of Dompet Dhuafa on September 1, 2019.  This activity is a cadre program of young strategic leaders and integrated as an effort to realize a powerless Indonesia.

“We hope that the role of the regional government in the effort to develop Tenocity so that this empowerment program can run well so as to create prosperity for non-productive women,” he concluded.  (SMH / ris)

Keywords: Batik, empowerment, women, IPB achievements.