Indonesia

Name : Mrs. Suparti (30 years old)
Occupation : goat sate seller
Association : RT 02 RW 01 BIRIT Village

The fragrant and appetizing aroma of specially prepared goat meat always surrounds a warung (small restaurant) located barely a hundred meters across the street from the Birit Village office. Wife and husband Mrs. Suparti and Mr. Pardi are both members of RT 02 and owners of this goat meat warung, which already has many loyal customers. Although uncooked meat is not on display in front of their warung, the delicious aroma of cooking meat attracts anyone fond of goat.

Sate kambing (goat meat grilled on skewers) is the mainstay at this warung, but Mrs. Suparti also prepares tongseng kambing (goat cooked with cabbage), gulai kambing (goat curry), tengkleng (boiled goat bones), and even nasi goreng kambing (fried rice with goat meat). Also for sale are a variety of drinks, kerrupuk (fish flavored chips), keripik (assorted crispy chips), and other small snacks. The warung has been in business for nearly three years and its income is the main livelihood for Mrs. Suparti’s family. When the 2006’s earthquake hit Birit and destroyed Mrs. Suparti’s home and warung, she was determined to keep the disaster from dampening her spirit. She closed her warung for several months to repair, and little by little she began to rebuild, looking for loans to offset the expenses. Thanks to her perseverance and patience for rebuilding and continuous work, her hopes were realized and the business is finally back to normal.

Every day Mr. Pardi slaughters one or two goats, and though a young goat costs up to RP 250.000 they must always have fresh meat for their business. The family’s warung is never empty, and customers often come until as late as midnight. Although there are many other food sellers in the area, including other goat meat warung, the special taste and freshness of Mrs. Suparti’s cooking keeps her food in high demand. For only RP 6.000, a customer can buy a hearty portion of sate kambing or other goat dishes. In a single day the warung can make profits of 300 to 350 thousand rupiah. This is enough to cover daily expenses for Mrs. Suparti’s family. Mrs. Suparti, who is now pregnant, believes that the community savings group RT 02 can guarantee her additional needed capital for her business. New opportunities have allowed Mrs. Suparti to take a second loan. The loans are for RP 100.000, which is not quite enough to buy a goat, but Mrs. Suparti puts at least half of the loan toward buying a goat and uses the other half for other business necessities. Her hopes for the community savings program are that it will continue to run smoothly and will attract many business owners not only at the beginning but also throughout the program to allow the savings to grow. Mrs. Suparti hopes that this program will continue to be successful as it is a great help for the community, and especially for small business owners like herself.