Life’s Water from the Village

KOMPAS/KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Yakobus Jano

Yakobus Jano has been running a village development program since 1995, initially by organizing an arisan (tontine) in Rotat hamlet and then a savings and loans cooperative. Jano grew the Pintu Air Cooperative from just 50 members, and today it now has branches in10 other provinces across East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

The Pintu Air Cooperative, headquartered in Ladogahar village, Nita district, Sikka regency, has 350,622 members across the province today, primarily poor farmers and fishermen.

Jano became motivate to open a social savings and loan services on 1 April 1995, driven by the poverty that trapped 50 residents in Rotat hamlet. He had just retired from the Maumere branch of state-owned lender BRI, about 12 km from the hamlet.

"I had seen how the people in the hamlet lived in misery. It was hard [for them] to make sure they could put food on the table every day, even if it was only cassava or bananas," Jano said. His concerns prompted him to come up with the idea of holding an arisan (tontine). " It is popularly called a credit union today," Jano said on Thursday (25/7) in Kupang.

He said that the basic principle of the arisan he held was: "If I am facing hardships, you come and help; if you’re facing hardships, I come and help. If we’re facing hardships, you come and help. If you’re facing hardships, we come and help. If I am sick, you share the pain. If you’re sick, we share the pain. No one is too rich and no one is too poor. All members will prosper according to their capabilities."

During the eight months the arisan was held, the Rp 2,000 membership contribution that was collected at each gathering proved extremely helpful for the members. Rp 1,000 from each member was put into a collective fund, and there was no food fee. The arisan was held at the home of each member on rotation, and everyone brought what food they could from home for sharing together, such as bananas, tubers, corn, vegetables and fruits.

The collective fund was used to help the arisan’s members or to treat members of their families who were sick or who had died. The fund was also used to help members who had difficulties covering the costs for children pursuing higher education, but always upon the agreement of all members.

On entering its eighth month of running, the arisan was almost disbanded in December 1995 because of the financial crisis. Thirty members left the group, leaving only 20 members who continued to persevere. In 1996, local trust in the arisan increased, with its membership expanding to 74 people from Rotat hamlet as well as from Ladogahar village.

Jano began encouraging the arisan’s members to develop it into a legal organization as a cooperative. After the members learned about the functions of a cooperative and the management duties, rights and obligations of its members, the proposal was approved.

"I sought a suitable name for the cooperative. I was watching a spring in the village. [How] It flowed, and then settled in a pool. More and more water flowed, and into the surrounding villages. The more the water was collected, the more water flowed. So I named the cooperative \'Pintu Air\' [water door], and that is its name to this day. The flow of water became the cooperative’s founding philosophy," said Jano.

Flow

Jano always reminded all members that if the water did not flow as intended, it would harm the cooperative. As a result, Pintu Air management in every village, city and regency must be guided by the basic principles of a cooperative. Each member must continue to meet their obligations in accordance with the provisions to benefit from the cooperative.

The annual members’ meeting (RAT) is Pintu Air Cooperative’s major decision-making forum. If even one of the cooperative’s 3,678 branches failed to hold an RAT, the cooperative would freeze and the cooperative’s management would fall apart.

The Pintu Air Cooperative currently holds assets worth Rp 1.5 trillion, and its management plans to buy a plane under a joint operation scheme (KSO) with PT Trans Nusa. NTT has 1,192 islands and needs adequate air transportation to encourage development in the province. Jano has held various discussions with Trans Nusa executives, the NTT governor and the president director of NTT Bank, a local bank.

All Pintu Air Cooperative members receive training through workshops, mentoring, meetings and the cooperative’s Ekora quarterly magazine, as well as information disseminated through the cooperative’s social media accounts.

To become a member of the Pintu Air Cooperative, an individual submits a copy of their identity card (KTP) and pays an initial registration fee of about Rp 350,000. The fee includes the mandatory savings deposit of Rp 20,000 for the first month, a principal savings of Rp 50,000 and a daily deposit of Rp 2,000. It excludes voluntary deposits, which depend on a member’s financial capability.

Pintu Air Cooperative is headquartered in Maumere, Sikka, and has 46 branch offices, 26 sub-branch offices, 385 units and 185 groups. Apart from NTT, Pintu Air Cooperative also operates branches in East Java, South Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Maluku, Papua, Yogyakarta special province, Papua, West Papua, and Batam. A Pintu Air Cooperative is usually established starting with one or several groups, and then grows into a branch office.

KOMPAS/KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Yakobus Jano

"Starting from a small, isolated and poor hamlet, Pintu Air is like flowing water that gives life to many corners of the country to raise the dignity of its members in villages and cities. We continue to help those without based our principles of mutual caring and sharing," said Jano.

Yakobus Jano

Born: Maumere, 15 Sept. 1953

Education: Bachelor in law

Wife: Wilhelmina Liko

Children: Irma (36), Irfin (35), Inyoris (30)

Occupation: Founder and president director, Pintu Air Cooperative

Award: 2015 Satya Lencana Cooperative Development award