Yayasan Kampung Halaman

Kampung Halaman has been active in every Community Lab for two years to support and facilitate youth groups in strengthening their role in their communities. Our activites with the youth groups include:

1.    Research and production of community videos
2.    Screenings and discussions of community videos
3.    Establishment and support of Community Media Center (Sanggar)
4.    Creative Community Trade Sector
5.    Training of young leaders

We have facilitated different communities since 2006:

1. Taruna Reka in Karangploso hamlet, Piyungan-Bantul, Yogyakarta
Taruna Reka is a youth organization in Karangploso hamlet, a hamlet where the majority of the residents are farmers, although the younger generation has gradually grown away from the world of agriculture. This hamlet is located in an area that was heavily damaged in the earthquake that struck Yogyakarta in 2006. Taruna Reka played a significant role in the emergency phase immediately after the earthquake by finding and channeling aid.

Activities during 2006-2008:

The introductory activity between Kampung Halaman and Taruna Reka (the youth organization in Karangploso hamlet) was an invitation to the members of Taruna Reka and the elementary school and junior high school students in Karangploso to make a video about their experiences during the earthquake and the conditions in their hamlet after the earthquake. We planned this activity so that they would directly experience the entire process of how to make and screen a community video. In this way, they could decide whether this activity was useful and answered their needs.
They made three videos:
·    “Alon-alon Waton Kelakon” (“Slowly but Surely”)
·    “Rumah Gedhek Tempat Tinggal Kami” (“Our House of Bamboo Plaiting”)
·    “Bunga-bungaku yang Indah” (“My Beautiful Flowers”)
We used the showing of these videos as a venue for introducing ourselves to the hamlet, explaining what we wanted to do with the Karangploso youth in the future, and asking the villagers for permission to do them. Also, we asked for comments and suggestions concerning our future plans and activities.

The intent of the production of the community videos was to become familiar with the conditions of the Karangploso youth, their community and environment (potential and problems) where they lived. The young people were introduced to basic camera techniques in a simple, participatory way to avoide the used of complicated technical terms that might hamper their mastery of the camera, because it was more important for the young people to be able to use the camera as a tool to sharpen their view of their conditions. This activity produced one documentary video entitled, “Sawah, Kandang dan Sungai” (“Rice Fields, Stables and the River”), which was later developed into longer, more detailed videos, including: “Andai Ku Tahu” (“If I Knew”), “Tak Kandhake Pak Dukuh, Lho” (“I’ll Tell the Village Leader”), “Who Are We?”, “Bakat Terpendam Aku” (“My Buried Talent”), and “Rindu Kami Padamu, Rumahku” (“We Miss You, Our Home”).

When these videos were finished, the next activity was to show them and hold a discussion to search for solutions and design action/activities as a response to the findings of the videos. Action was designed particularly in response to the problem of the availability of water for agriculture (as addressed in the video “Sawah, Kandang dan Sungai”), the reluctance of young people to work in the fields and the availability of work for them (in response to the video “Andai Ku Tahu”), management of the environment (in response to the video “Tak Kandhake Pak Dukuh, Lho”), and the rise in the fole of women in organizations (as addressed in the video “Who Are We?”).

During the course of these activities in Karangploso, the young people needed a place, not only to gather, but to store their equipment, such as the camera and computer for editing. They took the initiative to join with the Taruna Reka and mobilize the entire community of Karangploso to build an activity center. The residents allowed them to use communal land for the center. Almost all of the villagers contributed to building the center, especially in labor, providing food for the laborers and donating building materials. Kampung Halaman provided the remaining necessities. The process of the construction of the activity center was documented in a video.

To commemorate the one-year anniversaty of the earthquake, Taruna Reka organized a photography exhibition and screening of the videos that they made. This event encouraged the residents of Karangploso to reflect upon what they had experienced and survived, and what they were going to do next.
·    Designing an Exit Strategy and Training of Local Facilitators
Hasantoha Adnan facilitated the designing of the exit strategy (or the end of Kampung Halaman’s direct assistancy program of one year). Toto Rahardjo continued this process with a training of local facilitators, who were the young members of Taruna Reka who had been active participants in the program. It is hoped that they will be able to continue organizing activites in Karangploso.

2.    SOCA Tasik Youth Media Center, Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat

SOCA Tasik Youth Media Center was founded during Kampung Halaman’s assistancy program in Tasikmalaya. It is hoped that SOCA will become a space for youth from various backgrounds in Tasikmalaya to meet and produce media that tells about their conditions and surroundings.

Foto Baceo (or Talking Photos) was an activity of making and exhibiting photos of the conditions in Tasikmalaya through the eyes of its children and youth. The photos represented an initial mapping of the potentials and problems faced by youth in Tasikmalaya that could later be studied more intensely. The 252 young participants came from various backgrounds. Several central issues were identified from the approximately 400 photographs taken, including: the lack of work opportunities, the lack of educational resources and facilities, the loss of public space for children, the widening gap between youth of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, and the destruction of the environment. Only 80 of the 400 photographs taken were exhibited to represent these issues.

After the process of mapping problems through the Foto Baceo exhibition, the young participants gathered to design a strategic plan for the future and to form the organization that would become the venue for this strategic plan. Thus, the Soca Tasik Youth Media Center was founded.

This video workshop was organized to focus on the issues and problems identified in the photographs of Foto Baceo. The videos produced in this workshop included: “Penyiar Radio Tuh” (“Radio Broadcaster”), “Aku Cinta Kampungku” (“I Love My Neighborhood”), “Habis Berapa Bos?” (“How Much, Boss?”), “Tak Ada Minyak Kayupun Jadi” (“There’s No Eucalyptus Oil”), “Toilet Kampusku” (“My Campus Toilet”), “Nyito: Aku Bicara Melalui Nyanyianku” (“Nyito: I Speak Through My Song”), “Kecil sih … Tapi Apa Kita Peduli” (“Young … but We Care”). These videos were later shown in various communities, including pesantren, university campuses, and schools.

To guarantee the continuation of Soca Tasik Youth Media Center after the end of Kampung Halaman’s assistancy program, Soca designed a creative media-based business. They tried to develop a business of making videos of wedding receptions, video profiles, music clip videos, and videos of birthday celebrations. The people involved with this business received an income and a portion of their earnings went into the organization’s coffers.

This workshop was intended to stimulate the creativity, artistic energy and teamwork of the youth participants of Soca Tasik Youth Media Center. Five videos were produced in this workshop.

3. Community Action Partners for Social Change, Jambi, Sumatera

4. Youth and Traditional Arts Community: Tembi-Bantul, Ponorogo, Bali, Indramayu

5. Youth in The Provence of Riau Archipelago