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DU'ANYAMDu’Anyam produces and distributes wicker crafts to empower women and improve maternal and child health in Indonesia. By providing alternative employment to subsistence agriculture, Du’Anyam improves the financial potential of women who are of childbearing age and consequently enables them to access healthcare more easily.
Find out more about Du’Anyam at www.duanyam.com. |
The Story |
 Group of Du'Anyam Weavers
Du'anyam was founded in 2014 by Azalea Ayuningtyas, Yohanna Keraf, and Melia Winata as a solution to improve maternal and infant health in Indonesia. Hanna, Melia and Ayu were friends in high-school. After going their different ways across the globe they brought together their diverse backgrounds in health, business and social work to come up with an innovative means for social impact back home in Indonesia.
When Aya and Melia visited Hannah in Flores they learned about its health crisis of dismally high maternal and child mortality rates. They identified the inconsistent cash flow of subsistence agriculture, the dominant industry there, to be a primary cause of these poor health conditions. While observing the living conditions of the women and children, Hanna, Melia, and Ayu were fascinated by the weaving craft of the women and recognised its potential value. They therefore founded Du’Anyam, which taps into the existing culture of weaving to empower these women. By enabling the women they work with to sell their wicker crafts in an expanded market Du’Anyam provides them with a source of stable income. By increasing the financial potential of the women they increase their access to savings, better nutrition, as well as health services and education for their children. They also provide a much needed alternative source of income to the physically demanding agricultural work for pregnant women. |
The Impact |
The cornerstones of Du’Anyam’s impact are: the economic empowerment of women, the improvement of health conditions, and the promotion of local culture. Du’Anyam works with 400 women and the income of these women has increased by 40% over the last three years. Having a year round income provides them with the stability that they lacked with their seasonal income from subsistence agriculture. Du’Anyamn’s annual impact surveys indicate that their weavers are more likely to have savings and increased decision making power in the household, while their children are less likely to suffer from undernourishment. Due to the success of their initiatives in Flores, Du’Anyam has expanded to several other regions in Indonesia, including Berau, Nabire and Sidoardjo.
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