JAKARTA (UCAN) – Witah was not at all business savvy when she first started selling vegetables on a south Jakarta street. The low prices she charged for her goods left her with little profit.
This changed after she joined a parish-run micro-financing program earlier this year.

The Credit Union Microfinance Innovation (CUMI)scheme, established last September, offers training on how to run a business effectively.

The scheme, started by Jesuit Father Antonius Sumarwan, assistant priest at Our Lady of the Queen Church in South Jakarta, also offers both savings and loans to poor people looking to improve their businesses, but are unable to get credit from mainstream banks.

“The program helps me to manage my business better and increase my profits,” said Witah, one of 110 members of CUMI. Eighty percent of members are Muslims, the rest are Catholics and Protestants.
She said CUMI gave her a 500,000 rupiah (US$49) loan on joining the program. She used the money to buy vegetables and then sold them using the business skills she had acquired.

“I sell vegetables in the mornings and afternoons. I can earn 300,000 rupiah a day and use the money to buy produce for the following day,” said the 62-year-old Muslim mother of eight. “I can now pay the rent, support my family and save the rest in CUMI,” she said.

Before joining CUMI, she sold vegetables intermittently and only in the mornings. As a result, she had little savings.

“I am happy and really thankful to the Catholic Church for helping me develop my small business,” she smiled.

Witah was sharing her experience with 150 priests, nuns and laypeople at a June 20 meeting of parish-level social ministries of Jakarta archdiocese. The archdiocese’s commission for socio-economic development organized the event, titled “How to improve the economic life of underprivileged families.”

Father Sumarwan told meeting participants he was inspired to start CUMI after reading Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus’ book, “Banker to the Poor,” was published in 2003.

Yunus, a banker and economist, developed the concept of micro credit for entrepreneurs who are too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. In 2006, Yunus and his Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for helping the poor advance economically.

“Our target is underprivileged families so that they do not fall into poverty,” Father Sumarwan said, adding that each of the current members are obliged to save a minimum of 2,500 rupiah a week.
He said the first CUMI members were five women who used to sell food in front of the parish church every Sunday. “Our five lay activists trained them in running small businesses and improving their economic lives.”

CUMI has set a target of 150 members by the end of this year, Father Sumarwan said. He and his volunteers have been promoting the program by word-of-mouth.

Jesuit Father Yosephus Edi Mulyono, who heads the archdiocese’s commission for socio-economic development, told UCA News that at present, 96 percent of Church aid to the underprivileged is through charitable handouts. Economic empowerment programs form only four percent.

“The Church should do it the other way round, by providing 96 percent of resources for empowerment programs and four percent to charity,” he said.
“We will encourage other parishes to establish their own CUMI. We just want this program to grow so people will be more self-reliant instead of being dependent on others,” he said.

Ratri, another Muslim CUMI member, told meeting participants she was selling food on the streets before joining the program,. “After joining CUMI, my business improved. I now run a catering business,” said the 58-year-old proudly.