Babinsa's Story From Kupang Second Sergeant Antonius, Empowers Mamas To Turn Moringa Into Cuan

Babinsa Koramil 02/Camplong Second Sergeant Antonius Saet is weighing Moringa leaves at his residence in Liliba. AMONG

KUPANG - The Indonesian Army (AD) Village Development Officer (Babinsa) took part in community empowerment.

As the lowest element of the TNI AD hierarchy, Babinsa as the spearhead in the field has contributed a lot to the development process in addition to its capacity as a national defense tool.

Like the story of Second Sergeant Antonius Saet, Babinsa Koramil 02/Camplong. In addition to empowering the community in his assigned area, he also fosters a community of moringa activists at his residence located in RT 07/RW 11, Liliba Village, Maulafa District, Kupang City.

"I have started to empower the assisted residents (to manage Moringa, ed) at the place of duty since February 23, 2022. The first time was at the Camplong Koramil," he said when he started his story, quoted from Antara, Monday, August 22.

Over time, Antonius began to empower dozens of households and school-age children to cultivate Moringa in private residences.

Some housewives who sit at home every day without any activity, she invites them to work together as workers to manage Moringa leaves, by removing the Moringa leaves from the Moringa stalks.

Now its members consisting of mothers and children number around 35 people. He named his group Kelor Kasih. Every day the members of the group struggle to remove the Moringa leaves from the stalks and then weigh them.

Working hours only range from four to five hours. Within four to five hours, the workers can produce 50 to 60 kilograms of wet Moringa leaves every day.

The price of wet Moringa leaves sold per kilogram is IDR 5,000. From this price, he then set aside a portion for operational costs so that he could pick up and deliver Moringa to the production center located at Koramil 02 Camplong, Kupang district.

So from that Rp. 5,000, she then set aside Rp. 3,000 for working mothers, the rest for operational or mobility costs.

The delivery location is quite far. Because the distance from Kupang City to the Camplong Koramil is approximately 70 kilometers.

He was also forced to pay for a bus with the Kupang-Kefa or Kupang-Atambua routes to take the deposit to the Camplong Koramil with a one-time delivery fee from his pocket.

Therefore, he discussed with his group members to determine the purchase price from the hands of members to cover operational costs.

For the Moringa that Antonius is looking for, each group member gets a wage of Rp. 2,000 for every kilogram of moringa leaves. Meanwhile, moringa sold by group members means that it is taken from the group members' gardens and is priced at Rp. 3,000 per kilogram.

The income from the sale of Moringa is then collected and the more will be used to buy school supplies, such as notebooks, and pens and pencils to be given to children in the area.

With the support of his wife, Antonius further empowered the mothers in his working area to get additional pocket money to meet their daily needs.

"I didn't profit from it. Instead, I got additional pocket money for operations from the office of Rp. 1 million and this is quite enough," he said.

In his group members, he did not only involve mothers, but also some children who were still in elementary school (SD) to be included.

But that does not mean the children are skipping school. Those involved are required to go to school. However, before leaving in the morning, the children were allowed to help knock out the Moringa leaves.

"They get pocket money from weighing the weight of Moringa leaves that have been threshed," he added.

From the results of this empowerment, mothers in Antonius' work area every week can get pocket money ranging from Rp. 150,000 to Rp. 200,000 per week.

Sometimes there are also mothers who keep it and at the end of the month they only receive one honorarium. Everything through the records made by Antonius's wife.

Mama Matilda Talan, who participates in knocking out Moringa leaves every day, feels that this activity has helped her economically. He has joined since the beginning the Kelor Kasih group was formed.

Every day, Mama Matilda collects 6 kilograms of Moringa leaves to 12 kilograms of wet Moringa leaves. It was also done only in the morning, because as a housewife, she had to return home to do routine household chores.

With a few tears in her eyes, Matilda felt grateful for this program, because it could help meet household needs, especially since her husband is only a laborer.

The activities of the Kelor Kasih group finally reached the ears of Julie Sutrisno Laiskodat. The head of the NTT Dekranasda and the wife of the Governor of NTT, Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat, visited the location of the Kelor Kasih Group.

The arrival of the wife of the Governor of NTT who also has an interest in Moringa, surprised Antonius. He even wondered how Julie Laiskodat could find out about the group. This is because usually he and his group are only visited by the Head of the Press Section of the Dandim 1604 Kupang and other TNI officials.

The arrival of the wife of the number one person in NTT made Antonius feel ashamed that he could not provide a proper place for threshing wet Moringa leaves.

However, basically, he felt even happier because his efforts to empower residents to manage Moringa were heard by Julie Laiskodat.

In addition, he also feels proud and grateful for his intention to empower residents, besides making money, it also strengthens the sense of kinship between residents.

Antonius hopes that this Moringa management program can be sustainable, so that mothers and children can benefit from it.

"If possible there is a factory so that our children can work there," he concluded.