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TORAJAMELO, How Torajan Handwoven Textile Could Pull Out Women and Society from Cycle of Poverty

by with No Comment News / UpdatesStories

Every time the discussion about developing countries emerges, there’s always a recurring theme of exploitation of indigenous people. Not only in developing countries, sometimes even in powerful and leading countries, these indigenous communities still suffer from a potential threat to their cultures and livelihoods.

Traveling to the rural areas of Sulawesi, one of Indonesia’s archipelagos, we will be welcomed by centuries worth of tradition, preserved by thecommunity in Toraja.

Courtesy of Torajamelo.com

Dinny Jusuf, was moved by the fact that the poverty rate in the population of 254 million people in Indonesia is an astounding 13.8%, with 70% among them are women (BPS, 2015).

She sees that across Indonesia, many women’s only skill is back-strap weaving, but their creativity is limited by prices and low demands, and not to mention the culture appropriation by big fashion names that discredit the works of these artisans. It forces these women to find works in other countries, only to be abused by their employers, and some even came back with unwanted pregnancy. So she came up with TORAJAMELO.

TORAJAMELO (CBN – ID000009955), literally means Beautiful Toraja, was then set up to create a better life for the marginalized rural women weaver artisans in Indonesia and to rejuvenate the art and culture of Indonesian hand-woven cloth. She started the work in Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia in 2008. What the company has done so far is preparing the weavers for the global market by conducting Community Organizing programs and Capacity Building (i.e. fashion trend, textile design, etc.) and giving access to micro-finance and social support (i.e.reading glasses donation, etc.). Not only that, the company also has a regeneration program to pass on weaving knowledge to the young people.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Courtesy of Torajamelo.com

Through their products, TORAJAMELO creates fun & functional head-to-toe fashion lines and gift products of high quality, all made of Indonesian hand-woven textile from their indigenous geographical origin.

“By 2025, we aim to become the shopping destination of Indonesia, which sells high-quality fashion line and gift products, all made of Indonesian hand-woven textile from their geographical origin, in collaboration with at least 5,000 weavers across rural Indonesia and at least 100 urban poor women who produce the finished items,” explains Dinny.

Courtesy of Torajamelo.com

Basing the business on community, quality and compassion, TORAJAMELO seeks to make a real change by respecting artisans and value them with the fair market prices for the weavers’ better lives. The company works as both foundation and a limited liability. With a total of 1,000 weavers based in Sulawesi and East Flores, TORAJAMELO now ventures their business to e-commerce and brick and mortar shop in expatriate area of South Jakarta.

      
Courtesy of Torajamelo.com      Courtesy of Torajamelo.com

Dinny’s background as a former Secretary General of Komnas Perempuan (National Commission on Anti Violence Against Women) surely plays part in her continuous advocacy for indigenous women weavers. Now as the CEO, she works alongside Nina Jusuf as the Head of Design and Production with fashion design degree and her expertise in violence against women issues.

“We keep our team small, so we can be agile. We believe in mentoring the young generations. So, all of our seven staffs consist of women who share the dream to create a better life for rural women through weaving,”

Courtesy of Torajamelo.com

In November 2016, TORAJAMELO was chosen by the Staff Office of the President of Republic of Indonesia as one of the home-grown brands to develop Nation Branding for the promotion of Trade, Investment and Tourism for Indonesia.

Courtesy of Torajamelo.com

In May 2016, Dinny Jusuf received “The Marketeers Women Award 2016” by the MarkPlus Inc, a leading company in Southeast Asia on Marketing Strategy, and these awards are just a few of many other inspiring awards that this trailblazer company has won.

TM 4 (1) 1

Catalyst For Change

by with No Comment News / UpdatesStories

“Don’t ever give up your dream for anything or for anybody, no matter what.”

— DINNY JUSUF


Dinny Jusuf

BY JESSICA SMULDERS COHEN

When I first met Dinny in my parents’ living room in Jakarta, just around the corner from TORAJAMELO’s shop in Kemang, her open face and smiling eyes were instantly likable. She introduced herself according to her business card: mother, wife, and dreamer. Her two adult children (one a wise man, the other a wild spirit, according to her) and her Torajanese husband are the pillars of her existence. As for dreamer, she admits that people often think she is crazy, because she always does what she feels like and believes in. Once I was back in wintery London, I very much enjoyed following up on those early conversations via Skype calls to Toraja a couple of months later.

TORAJAMELO (beautiful Toraja) was created in response to a cause, rather than as a planned social enterprise, Dinny says. “We didn’t even know what a social enterprise was, and suddenly we were being branded as one.”

She sees the endeavor as simply giving women back their rights — the right to be at home with their children; the right to earn a living to support their family, free from abuse; the right to creativity. The chosen tool for this in Toraja — especially as the lower castes of women in her husband’s village are weavers — is weaving. Dinny also admits she has a soft spot for the craft, and feels it needs more publicity and recognition compared to the already famous Indonesian batik.

Such a philanthropic but pragmatic enterprise did not materialize out of thin air. Dinny brings with her an impressive professional track record: first as a successful banker, then as the mother of two, then as Secretary General of the Indonesian National Commission on Anti-Violence Against Women, when she also cofounded Suara Ibu Peduli (The Voice of Concerned Mothers). In fact, she says she settled in Toraja to finally take a break. Despite that desire for a rest, however, it was not long after she met the local weavers — in 2008 while her husband was building them a house — that TORAJAMELO was born.

Dinny felt a sense of urgency to do something, because she saw elder women dying, and their craft with them, while the younger women were absent working overseas as nannies in Singapore and Malaysia. All of this was highlighted by the fact that many of the babies in the village had Chinese-looking faces. (This tugged on her heartstrings; Dinny has firsthand experience of the stigma that comes along with growing up in Indonesia with Chinese heritage.) The fathers were as absent as the mothers — most likely raising their legitimate children with their wives on the Malay Peninsula, she says. Pregnant Torajanese women would be forced to go home to give birth after being either seduced or abused by their bosses, and would then return to work, leaving their children to be raised by their grandparents in the village.

The Torajanese villagers are predominantly poor farmers, and even though they once had a strong weaving tradition, they no longer had much of a market for it. The number of overseas tourists who visit for the local culture (including textiles, ceremonies, and nature, especially hiking) dropped precipitously after the terrorist attacks in Bali. So Dinny decided to buy up all the cloth they were making and sell it in Jakarta. A couple of years later she appointed her sister Nina (who is also a women’s rights activist but has a training in fashion) as the head designer, and went on to design the garments we see today.

It was this sister dream team who went on to change the lives of not only Torajanese weavers, but countless other women across the archipelago. Dinny has a deep-seated love of Indonesia, Indonesian culture, and especially Indonesia’s traditionally woven cloth. She feels this comes from her mother, who — while pregnant with her, and despite being ethnically Chinese — was completely in love with both Dinny’s Javanese father and the land from whence he came. Notwithstanding this love, her mother eventually immigrated to the United States when the discrimination against her and her children’s ethnicity became too much, bringing five of her six children one by one to join her. Dinny was the only one who decided to remain behind, despite also facing the same prejudices as a Chinese-looking woman in Indonesia that her mother had wanted to escape. She eventually coaxed Nina back for six months a year to help with the operation of TORAJAMELO, which is run from their clothing enterprise in Bandung.

Despite this support from her sister, as well as that of her other siblings and her own family, things have been far from easy. The first battle in Toraja was overcoming the resistance she faced from her husband’s family, and even her husband himself. Being of a higher caste, they were not supportive of her work with the lowly weavers. Finally, the wary prediction of a local wise man also came true: Dinny was deceived by a local weaver who tried to steal her business by faking TORAJAMELO weaver signatures to sell her own proposal for government funding. In this case she was surprised that it was her husband and his family came to her aid, supporting her efforts to resolve the issue. Her latest challenge came when funding was dropped mere weeks from the opening of a momentous exhibition at the textile museum of Jakarta. That time it was her ex-colleagues from Citibank who came to her rescue (personally, not on behalf of the bank). The weavers themselves also pitched in, insisting that a group big enough to do a ceremonial dance had to travel to Jakarta all the way from East Flores to participate, instead of the four representatives that TORAJAMELO could fund. In both cases she found solace in family and friends, and was deeply moved by the purely emotional response to difficulty.

As with the current trend in social entrepreneurship, Dinny has a hard time responding to ideas of modern feminism and global sustainability. She simply does what she feels and knows is right for the weavers and their traditions, instead of looking to name or brand it. For her the greatest impact is seeing Torajanese women return to weave and be with their families. The sustainability aspect comes from women supporting women across generations, and the preservation of cultural identity. When the women are overseas they do not weave — it belongs to the context of their Torajanese house and village, with the support of family and community. “They become whole again,” when they return, explains Dinny. “TORAJAMELO acts as a catalyst for returning their dignity.”

This is both her biggest challenge and most satisfying reward. It was not easy convincing the weavers that they could make better lives for themselves. In many ways they were content to accept their fate. However, now that they see the results of Dinny’s efforts, they are extremely pleased with the improvement.

One of the women who has inspired Dinny the most, a woman she looks up to as a mentor and friend, is a socialist who spent time in jail for her efforts. When Dinny visited her and talked of the strife she faced, her friend would always say, “You may rest, but you cannot ever give up.” This is evident in her work: She has helped more than 48,000 market women set up cooperatives, which are still going strong despite economic difficulties. She lives by the motto that everybody can give a helping hand. “You don’t have to be rich to help others,” she says. “If you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and eat three meals a day, you are ready.”

Another favorite piece of advice came from the aforementioned Torajanese wise man: “Dinny, just do it — I give you my blessing. You will be betrayed by your own kind, but don’t give up. I will pray for you. Just keep going.” She laughed at first when he said this, but when his prophecy came true she was shocked at his accuracy!

Young Weavers

Dinny continues to endeavor to keep doing what she believes in, no matter who laughs at her — as her friends often do. Given that people around her, even those in high places, have expressed their envy of her freedom, she has made her own mantra: “Don’t ever give up your dream for anything or for anybody, no matter what.”

“What will you do next?” I ask her. Now that she has reached the 10-year milestone with TORAJAMELO, Dinny has started thinking, especially now that Nina has to spend more time in the United States to do her work. She says she wants to mentor young professional women, whom she believes she can help and inspire, given her breadth of experience as a banker, activist, and women’s rights advocate. She is therefore planning to take TORAJAMELO in the direction of “Thought Leadership”, with the aim of using the original vision to lift marginalized women out of poverty by sharing, inspiring and replicating the work Dinny has done with the weavers. It’s time to pass on the baton. And maybe, finally, get the rest she most certainly deserves.

Dinny Jusuf is the mother-wife-dreamer founder and CEO of TORAJAMELO, and is in charge of Public Relations, Finance and Marketing. Formally established in 2010, TORAJAMELO means “beautiful Toraja”, and is an endeavour to rejuvenate the traditional back-strap loom weaving traditions of Toraja, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Dinny previously worked with Citibank, where she turned around The Training Division from a cost center to a profit making one. Dinny is a women’s activist and was The Secretary General of the Indonesian National Commission on Anti Violence Against Women, and co-founder of women organizations such as Suara Ibu Peduli (The Voice of Concerned Mothers). Follow Instagram @torajamelo and Facebook @torajamelo.

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Dinny Jusuf, CEO and Founder of TORAJAMELO

by News / UpdatesStories

An inspiring story of social entrepreneurship.  Whilst many of the leaders we feature focus on the increasing urban issues, it is worth remembering that in ASEAN alone there are more than a quarter of a billion people still living in rural areas.  It is great to see what Dinny Jusuf is doing…

What’s your story?

I am a mother, a wife and a dreamer.  I have two adult children and my husband hails from Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.  I dream of a better life for marginalized people, especially the women weavers of Indonesia.  In 2008, I started working with weavers from Toraja.  In partnership with Nina, my fashion designer sister, we aim to rejuvenate the indigenous culture by taking hand-woven textile to daily contemporary life.

Our brand is TORAJAMELO, which means Beautiful Toraja. We produce head-to-toe fashion line made of hand-woven textile.  We work with around 250 weavers in Toraja and will soon expand to West Sulawesi and East Flores.

What excites you most about your industry?

Young People!

We love it when we see young girls learn weaving again in the villages.  They say, they do it, because it is a meditative activity and it pays their school fee.

We love it when young people come to our office/shop saying: “I have studied in Art History. I want to learn about Indonesian crafts, especially weaving. Can I join you?”

We love it when we see young people buy our products.  Sometimes with tears in their eyes, saying:” We have been looking for something ethnic to wear, but modern in style. This is it! Thank you!”

What’s your connection to Asia?

I was born in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. I spent sometime in Australia.  I came back to Jakarta and in between enjoying my time as a mother and a wife, I have worked as a Corporate and Consumer Banker, Training Consultant, Social Worker, and as an Activist for Women’s Rights. I commute between peaceful Toraja and hectic Jakarta.  Toraja is where my husband was born and where our main home is.  Now as a Social Entrepreneur, I go to Jakarta to market our products.

Favourite city in Asia for business and why?

Jakarta! Actually I have a love and hate relationship with Jakarta.  I hate the traffic jam and pollution, but I love its vibrant ambiance.  So much is happening.  Presently, I am so excited with a kind of renaissance in loving Indonesian heritage creations among the Jakarta people, especially the young generation.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

In 2008 when I saw nobody was buying and wearing Toraja textile, I wondered what I could do.  So, I bought a few pieces of and brought the textile to Jakarta.  I asked my friend Obin of Bin House, who is a famous batik maker, what I should do.  She said: ”Use the textile to create something”.  I have never looked back since.  Every year, we launch a new fashion line, which has 5 F’s components: fun-fashionable-functional-at fixed price-made of fiber.

Who inspires you?

Brave, hardworking, selfless and yet ordinary women! Women like the weavers in Toraja, who work in the field in the day-time and weave at night to pay for the children’s school fee. Women like the single parent weavers in East Flores, who defy their customary law to lead their life and feed their children. Urban poor women like our seamstresses, who travel a long way through traffic and rain to sew our dresses.

What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?

We learn new things every day in doing the community organizing activities among the weavers (leadership training, textile design, etc.) and doing the business in the market.  The value chains in both areas are very long.  So many things can go wrong every day. We learn to have faith, that despite all challenges, in time everything is going to be OKAY.

If you had your time again, what would you do differently?

Maybe to collect capital first from various parties (i.e. friends, family, etc.) then start working.  We have been using our saving to start and develop this business. We did not know, that it would cost so much. Hua ha! It’s too late to stop now.

How do you unwind?

Go home to Toraja with my husband and watch the clouds go by.

Have a drink with my sister Nina.

Read a book.

Spend a scuba diving holiday with my children.

Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?

Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Because there are mountains to hike, colorful ceremonies, friendly people to chat with, great local food and where my home is.

Everyone in business should read this book:

I always have these books by my bed.

“The Power of Unreasonable People-How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change The World” by John Elkington & Pamela Hartigan

“The Sufi Book of Life-99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish” by Neil Douglas-Klotz

Shameless plug for your business:

TORAJAMELO’s two pronged approach is community organizing, which includes providing access to education and micro finance for the weavers. This is combined with a social business in designing, producing and marketing high quality fashion line.

Dinny is the CEO in charge of Finance, Marketing and Public Relations;

while Nina is the COO in charge of Design, Production and Operations.

Dinny received the “Indonesian Women of Change” Award for The Trade and Investment category from the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia on International Women’s Day in 2013.

In 2013, TORAJAMELO received Best Creation Award from Bank Negara Indonesia for Nina’s design.  In 2014 TORAJAMELO was recognized as one of “50 Leading Companies for Women in APEC”.

How can people connect with you?

dinny@TorajaMelo.com

www.TorajaMelo.com

Facebook/Youtube: Toraja Melo

Twitter: @TorajaMelo

phone:+628118881556

Cover-Katalog-Toraja-nj-cropped-sept-7-2012

TORAJAMELO our achievements

by News / UpdatesStories

WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING

SINCE 2011?

WOW! Time has gone so fast….my last blog was on July 7, 2011 on “Toraja Funeral Convoy”!  Now here I am, sitting in my son’s lounge in Weymouth, Dorset, United Kingdom. At last I have some rest and can write a few sentences.

Well, since we started the TORAJAMELO social enterprise in 2008, we have been very busy!  To tell you the truth, had I known, that it would be this busy and this complicated, I don’t think I would have dared to even think about it!

Let me share with you the highlight of our achievements so far…

IN THE WEAVING COMMUNITY

  •      Buying regularly from 40-100 weavers
  •      Becoming one of, if not the biggest buyer of  Sa’dan Torajan weaving
  •      Establishing ‘mini fair trade’ system
  •      Informal training on color, quality and motifs
  •      Inviting representatives of weavers to exhibitions in Jakarta
  •      Starting scholarship program for weavers’ children/grandchildren
  •     With BNI (Bank Negara Indonesia – one of the biggest national banks in Indonesia), starting a community development program with a formal survey towards a micro-credit pre-cooperative establishment

IN THE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  •      Design:

o   Having a professional in-house designer (Nina Jusuf)

o   Working with several professional fashion designers (Sedjati, Dina Midiani)

  •      Production:

o   Working with several workshops in Jakarta and Jogja to produce good quality hand-bags, sandals and clothes

  •      Awareness Campaign:

o   Being invited to numerous discussions/talk-shows to share experience as a social entrepreneur, i.e. Indonesian Heritage Society, Indonesia Fashion Week 2012, Femina Women Entrepreneur Workshop in Makassar 2012, etc.

o   Being interviewed by numerous magazines, newspapers, TV stations, electronic media including Jakarta Post, Jakarta Globe, Pesona Magazine, Kompas, MetroTV, SCTV, TransTV, Kompasiana.com, TorajaCyberNews.com

o   Organizing the first ever Toraja weaving exhibition at the Jakarta Textile Museum and publishing the supporting book/catalog with the support of BNI titled “Untannun Kameloan”

o   Becoming part of the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy for:

  •  Program of taking local culture to become international fashion trend (starting with Toraja)
  •  Program to rejuvenate batik (starting with Toraja batik ma’a’ and sarita)
  •  Program to develop a guideline on Indonesian Traditional Costumes (Busana Adat Nasional)
  •      Marketing/Sales:

o   Establishing a shop/office in Kemang, an expatriate area in Jakarta

o   Establishing several outlets in Jakarta, including in Alun-Alun in Grand Indonesia, Pendopo in Bumi Serpong Damai, Gallery Cikini, Koi Café & Gallery in Kemang, Jakarta Bikram Yoga, SMESCO (Small and Medium Enterprice Companies) gallery, etc.

o   Attending numerous trade fairs/bazaars in Jakarta since end of 2009, including Inacraft, Women International Club Bazaar, etc

o   Being sponsored by several Government Ministries (Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Cooperative and Small Enterprise) to join their fairs in Jakarta, i.e. Trade Expo Indonesia, The Exhibition of Creative Product, etc

o   Being sponsored by the Ministry of Trade to attend International Trade Fairs in Bangkok, Tokyo, Los Angeles and San Francisco

   and since 2011 regularly sell products in Japan (Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto)

o   Being chosen as one of Indonesian Icon Products during the Trade Expo Indonesia 2010

Along the way, we have been meeting angels who help us and lately, some devils have started to appear…to hinder our journey, BUT that is another story.

old-weaver

About TORAJAMELO – social entrepreneurship

by with No Comment News / UpdatesStories

TORAJAMELO

THE BACKGROUND

TORAJAMELO (TM) which means Beautiful Toraja aims to rejuvenate Sa’dan Toraja weaving while improving the weavers’ life by designing, producing and marketing high quality products made of the Toraja weaving.

Toraja is in the middle of Sulawesi island, Indonesia. It is believed that the indigenous people of Toraja have been using the wooden back-strapped loom for thousands of years. The techniques are varied, ranging from simple plain weave to the near-extinct warp floats to the already extinct tablet weaving.  The diminishing weaving tradition is mainly caused by the fact that Torajanese do not wear their own weaving in their daily life (unlike i.e. the people of Flores and Sumba). Another factor is the drop of tourist arrival- who used to buy the textile as souvenir- since the financial crisis in 1998 and the subsequent Bali bombing and Poso riots.  

Many young women then seek other means of living or leave their village.  The older women who stay weave in their spare time in between taking care of their grand children, tilling the land or feeding their pigs. These facts cause the weaving knowledge to rapidly diminish, as it is typically passed down from one generation to the next. Additionally, as the weaving is not highly respected compared to manufactured fabric and it is only done in their spare time, the income of the weavers is small.

As one of the Indonesian intangible heritage, it is important to preserve the existing and relearn the extinct motifs and techniques of Toraja weaving, while improving the weavers’ welfare by giving higher respect and value to their artistic skills. TM believes that the company is sustainable by marketing creative designs to the middle-upper class market in Indonesia and abroad.

THE COMPANY

TORAJAMELO started with weaving culture assessment in Sa’dan Toraja in 2008 and was formally established in 2010 as a social enterprise.  The main goal is to take Toraja weaving into the daily life.

Dinny Jusuf is married to a Torajanese man and initiated the company out of her concern about the dying weaving culture.  Dinny has worked as a banker, owner of a training consultancy business and Secretary General of the Indonesian National Commission on Anti Violence Against Women.  In 1998 Dinny co-founded Suara Ibu Peduli(The Voice of Concerned Mothers), an association of poor urban women, which runs education and micro-finance programs.

Nina Jusuf has a Fashion Design degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.  Nina has been involved in Domestic Violence issues since 1992 and was the Executive Director of San Francisco Women Against Rape. Nina co-founded the National Organization of Asian Pacific Islanders Ending Sexual Violence USA.  As a Capacitar International trainer, Nina facilitates sustaining activism workshops for Women Human Rights Defenders and NGO staff in the US, Indonesia and other countries.

In their joined quest for a better life for women, Dinny as CEO is in charge of Finance, Fund Raising and Marketing, while Nina as COO takes care of Design, Production and Management.   

THE BUSINESS MODEL

The business model is based on the principle of Community, Quality and Compassion. In the race against time, because the weavers are mostly elderly women, TM buys whatever weaving they have. It is made of polyester cotton, which is fortunate, because being handwoven, it is a colorful and durable material for TM bags and sandals. Thus, TM strategically focuses on i) design, ii) adding substantial value to the product and iii) branding and marketing in Jakarta and since 2011 in Japan (Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto).

Community: in Toraja, TM works with the weaving community, to ensure that the textile is suited the city people’s taste, i.e. colors, motifs, etc. TM also applies a mini fair trade system, whereby TM pays higher than other buyers and pays more for complicated motifs. In Jakarta TM starts marketing to people who appreciate high quality Indonesian products.  Then to widen the market, in addition to attending trade fairs and bazaars, social media and department stores sales, TM also gives presentations and works with communities, i.e. Indonesian Heritage Society (Indonesian culture lovers), Extra L (extra large women who campaign about self confidence, health, etc.), Srikandi (wives of expatriates who campaign for the rights of their children), etc.

Quality: in Jakarta TM produces high quality, limited edition, hand-made products; while trying to maintain quality service to our mostly ‘beyond Gucci & Prada’ customers, who appreciate quality products of Indonesia.

Compassion: TM started the business out of compassion to the weavers, who are all women.  In Jakarta to make the end products, TM collaborates with several workshops whose workers are mostly women.  TM shares the compassion about the weavers’ welfare and the survival of Toraja weaving with the clients.

PLEASE CONTACT US:

www.TorajaMelo.com

email: info@TorajaMelo.com

Facebook & Twitter: TorajaMelo

phone: + 62 87 888 772 196

About TORAJAMELO – social entrepreneurship

by with No Comment News / UpdatesStories

TORAJAMELO

THE BACKGROUND

TORAJAMELO (TM) which means Beautiful Toraja aims to rejuvenate Sa’dan Toraja weaving while improving the weavers’ life by designing, producing and marketing high quality products made of the Toraja weaving.

Toraja is in the middle of Sulawesi island, Indonesia. It is believed that the indigenous people of Toraja have been using the wooden back-strapped loom for thousands of years. The techniques are varied, ranging from simple plain weave to the near-extinct warp floats to the already extinct tablet weaving.  The diminishing weaving tradition is mainly caused by the fact that Torajanese do not wear their own weaving in their daily life (unlike i.e. the people of Flores and Sumba). Another factor is the drop of tourist arrival- who used to buy the textile as souvenir- since the financial crisis in 1998 and the subsequent Bali bombing and Poso riots.  

Many young women then seek other means of living or leave their village.  The older women who stay weave in their spare time in between taking care of their grand children, tilling the land or feeding their pigs. These facts cause the weaving knowledge to rapidly diminish, as it is typically passed down from one generation to the next. Additionally, as the weaving is not highly respected compared to manufactured fabric and it is only done in their spare time, the income of the weavers is small.

As one of the Indonesian intangible heritage, it is important to preserve the existing and relearn the extinct motifs and techniques of Toraja weaving, while improving the weavers’ welfare by giving higher respect and value to their artistic skills. TM believes that the company is sustainable by marketing creative designs to the middle-upper class market in Indonesia and abroad.

THE COMPANY

TORAJAMELO started with weaving culture assessment in Sa’dan Toraja in 2008 and was formally established in 2010 as a social enterprise.  The main goal is to take Toraja weaving into the daily life.

Dinny Jusuf is married to a Torajanese man and initiated the company out of her concern about the dying weaving culture.  Dinny has worked as a banker, owner of a training consultancy business and Secretary General of the Indonesian National Commission on Anti Violence Against Women.  In 1998 Dinny co-founded Suara Ibu Peduli(The Voice of Concerned Mothers), an association of poor urban women, which runs education and micro-finance programs.

Nina Jusuf has a Fashion Design degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.  Nina has been involved in Domestic Violence issues since 1992 and was the Executive Director of San Francisco Women Against Rape. Nina co-founded the National Organization of Asian Pacific Islanders Ending Sexual Violence USA.  As a Capacitar International trainer, Nina facilitates sustaining activism workshops for Women Human Rights Defenders and NGO staff in the US, Indonesia and other countries.

In their joined quest for a better life for women, Dinny as CEO is in charge of Finance, Fund Raising and Marketing, while Nina as COO takes care of Design, Production and Management.   

THE BUSINESS MODEL

The business model is based on the principle of Community, Quality and Compassion. In the race against time, because the weavers are mostly elderly women, TM buys whatever weaving they have. It is made of polyester cotton, which is fortunate, because being handwoven, it is a colorful and durable material for TM bags and sandals. Thus, TM strategically focuses on i) design, ii) adding substantial value to the product and iii) branding and marketing in Jakarta and since 2011 in Japan (Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto).

Community: in Toraja, TM works with the weaving community, to ensure that the textile is suited the city people’s taste, i.e. colors, motifs, etc. TM also applies a mini fair trade system, whereby TM pays higher than other buyers and pays more for complicated motifs. In Jakarta TM starts marketing to people who appreciate high quality Indonesian products.  Then to widen the market, in addition to attending trade fairs and bazaars, social media and department stores sales, TM also gives presentations and works with communities, i.e. Indonesian Heritage Society (Indonesian culture lovers), Extra L (extra large women who campaign about self confidence, health, etc.), Srikandi (wives of expatriates who campaign for the rights of their children), etc.

Quality: in Jakarta TM produces high quality, limited edition, hand-made products; while trying to maintain quality service to our mostly ‘beyond Gucci & Prada’ customers, who appreciate quality products of Indonesia.

Compassion: TM started the business out of compassion to the weavers, who are all women.  In Jakarta to make the end products, TM collaborates with several workshops whose workers are mostly women.  TM shares the compassion about the weavers’ welfare and the survival of Toraja weaving with the clients.

PLEASE CONTACT US:

www.TorajaMelo.com

email: info@TorajaMelo.com

Facebook & Twitter: TorajaMelo

phone: + 62 87 888 772 196

A House in Toraja

by News / UpdatesStories

A HOUSE IN TORAJA

I’ve been dreaming to build a house in Batutumonga for the past twenty years, since I was here for the first time. Anyway, in 2004 we found the land. It met my criteria: it is close to my husband’s ancestor home in Batutumonga, but it belongs to us, not part of the clan’s land. And from there I can see the rocks of Bori below. I love rocks, all kinds of rocks.

In the beginning, I thought it would be cheap to build a simple wooden house in the country side. It turned out, that I was wrong. Wood has become very expensive, especially since the government has tried to stop illegal logging, because the cost of bribes has become higher. Additionally, almost all materials have to be shipped from Java: cement, ceramic tiles, steel, glass, etc. They arrive in the harbour of Makassar, about eight hours drive away from Rantepao-the capital of North Toraja. From Rantepao, the materials have to be trucked to Batutumonga, an additional of one hour’s drive. Then from the side of the road, the workers with the help of some horses, carried the materials about one hundred twenty five meters up. In the end, to minimize the building cost, we used a combination of wood, concrete and glass. The result is a modern and expensive looking house! Aaaagh!

I was amused, to know that the Torajanese building contractor hired Sundanese workers from Bandung in West Java. Wow! It would cost us even more! What’s wrong with Torajanese workers? Then I found out. The Sundanese workers would start on time and only stopped working during coffee and lunch breaks. On the other hand, the Torajanese, would start working about half an hour late and would stop about half an hour early. In between, they would incessantly talk on their mobile phones, and would take long smoking, coffee and lunch breaks. My Torajanese husband has to stop himself from exploding with anger. He keeps saying though, that not all Torajanese are like that, especially the ones who work outside Toraja like him…..he…he…

Now about twelve months down the line, our house is finished. Every morning when I wake up and see the sun peeping from behind the fog below…yes, the clouds are below us…..I fall in love all over again with the beauty of Batutumonga. During full moon, when the sky is clear, I can watch moon rise from my floating verandah. Even cloudy and rainy days are beautiful! From the warmth of our living room through the large glass window, in the valley below we can see the clouds and rain mist chasing each other, often capped by a full rainbow. This is the reason why we call our house Banua Sarira or the House of Rainbow.

There are only about fourteen households in the surrounding area of our house (with about thirty children under 10!), but we have noticed several problems already. Like the water management among the neighbours, the passage way for people from up the hill to reach the main road, possibility of landslides, jealousy among neighbours, etc. There are also the classic problems of the rural area in Indonesia: the distance to good quality schools, the health support-especially for mothers and children and lastly, unemployment. I hope, once settled, I will be able to apply some of my experience in community development. Just like what Mama Tiku-one of my neighbours-said about working and living together, we can all strive towards a ‘Satu Hati’ (One Heart) community in beautiful Batutumonga!

Toraja – what happened in 1989

by with No Comment News / UpdatesStories

One night in October 1989, my Bear, that’s how I called my man, a Toraja man, took me by his trail motorcycle (years later, I found out, that it was not even his.  It was rented by using his meagre student pocket money!) through the dark night to his father’s village. Batutumonga, a hamlet, dotted with big, black rocks among the green rice fields, high above the clouds.

 

We spent the night in the wooden house of my Bear’s auntie (picture of view from her window).  She hastily heated a tin of sardine for the four of us (we rode with two other friends) and some rice.  Exhausted, we slept-the four of us on the wooden floor of the sitting room. It was soooo cold. Since then, I cannot stand the smell or to eat tinned sardine.  Since then, I know, that one day, I have to stay in Batutumonga. A yearning so strong, that I carry in all the cells of my body, every day. Until today, this is my three pronged dream: I want to live with my Bear, in a house in Batutumonga and then to share my experience.

 

Thus the purpose of this blog, to share with all of you out there!

Toraja – what happened in 1989

by with No Comment News / UpdatesStories

One night in October 1989, my Bear, that’s how I called my man, a Toraja man, took me by his trail motorcycle (years later, I found out, that it was not even his.  It was rented by using his meagre student pocket money!) through the dark night to his father’s village. Batutumonga, a hamlet, dotted with big, black rocks among the green rice fields, high above the clouds.

 

We spent the night in the wooden house of my Bear’s auntie (picture of view from her window).  She hastily heated a tin of sardine for the four of us (we rode with two other friends) and some rice.  Exhausted, we slept-the four of us on the wooden floor of the sitting room. It was soooo cold. Since then, I cannot stand the smell or to eat tinned sardine.  Since then, I know, that one day, I have to stay in Batutumonga. A yearning so strong, that I carry in all the cells of my body, every day. Until today, this is my three pronged dream: I want to live with my Bear, in a house in Batutumonga and then to share my experience.

 

Thus the purpose of this blog, to share with all of you out there!