History

PPMK – Empowering Women to Fight Poverty, began informally in 2002 when an American Vietnam veteran attended a workshop conducted by the ‘Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore’.  In the keynote address by then director Amanda Zinn, the veteran came away with two life changing impressions:

1) Single mothers, divorced, abandoned or even abused make good entrepreneurs because they think of their children first.

2) This is the single most important sector of society to support because we are actually helping to protect their children in the absence of runaway fathers and very little help from government (especially Indonesia).

If it could work for the black women of Baltimore, why not poor women in the towns and villages of Indonesia.  Learning how to make a responsible loan/grant to a qualified entrepreneur was in itself an effort due to culture and language issues.  Although good hearted, the initial effort (Empowering Women to fight Poverty) was unfocused and produced many failures (40%).  It resulted in a confusion of loans that went as far afield as Jakarta to Cilegon to Yogjakarta.  The program did not even distinguish between urban & rural development and it was not registered as a legal NGO.  The learning curve was/is harsh.  However, even in this confusion there were many outstanding successes. It can be done and we have learned.  Thank you Grameen Bank for a more focused approach.

The Yogyakarta, Indonesia earthquake on May 27, 2006 catalyzed PPMK to a new understanding of poverty.  This powerful quake hit in the early morning catching most people sleeping and killed ±6000 people; 200.000 homes were destroyed.  The area most damaged was Bantul regency (3000 dead) just south of city center, already a poor regency, the earthquake wreaked an unfair havoc on these people.  This was an experience of poverty compunded by the brutal reality of mass graves to control disease - truly an insult to human dignity.

Jack, the founder of PKWJ lived in a small hotel in Yogyakarta at the time of the earthquake; the entire roof of the 3rd floor fell on his head as the walls buckled.  Jack and one of the hotel gardeners, Muh, (Muhammad) grew fruit trees together as a hobby; as it turned out, Muh lost his wife and mother at the same time in the early morning collapse of their house in Bulus village, Bantul regency.  Muh was left with 2 small children and without a house or a bicycle, (his only form of transportation) or a salary. (That, previously had been $1 per day?) 

PPMK began formal relief operations on the day after the earthquake by providing direct relief to Muhammad and his children, a tarpaulin, food, blankets, clothes, small amount of cash, a bicycle and a hug.  On the next day we expanded to full-scale operations as financing permitted. (See Photo Gallery)

PPMK primary staff came together naturally on a mission of mercy. (Lastri, Eni & Budi) 3 Indonesian women who were restaurant workers where Jack ate dinner every day joined with the earthquake recovery effort. Together and with some trepidation, we entered ‘the kill zone’ in 3 Bantul villages everyday. What we saw and learned profoundly changed all our lives. Just 4 regular people, PKWJ catalyzed and became a legal NGO in May 2007, registered government number:  W13-41/255.LL/HK.00/XI/2009.  Currently we have formed a credit bank (Kredit Usaha Mikro) which will operate in tandem with PPMK as a community based profit facility, provide low interest loans to non collateralized poor people.  Loans will be made and enforced by branch offices on a village by village basis with the bank branch being run by older village women. PPMK is experimenting in several areas to contribute to a paradigm shift that will break the cycle of extreme poverty as we are able to see it in South/Central Java. (please see home page)