"Our activities consist in improving
environmental sustainability"
In this article we hear from Pilifus Junianto about the ministry in Rumah Ilham, an ecological commitment involving our Indonesian brothers in dialogue with other cultural and religious traditions.
What is the work of Rumah Ilham?
Rumah Ilham (meaning “an inspiring home”) – is a place of study and a place to share, a place to enhance the sustainability of the environment and all living things that depend on it. The values we embrace in order to sustain our vision are entrepreneurship, familiarity, dignity and sustainability.
Rumah Ilham is an official foundation, and to support its activities it trains people in renewable energy and organic agriculture. Our mission is to promote environmental sustainability. We support healthy lifestyles that require only the simplest methods. We encourage good habits that anyone, anywhere, can carry out, in accordance with our philosophy: "A better world starts at home".
Who is responsible for this ministry?
Hand in hand we work as a team:
Theresia Rukiatun: is an experienced businesswoman with a background in organic farming. She has been involved in this area for more than 20 years, and during the last four she has focused specifically on the production of organic fertilizers and compounds. She has set up several small businesses, such as healthy milk production and a restaurant. She has also trained students and single mothers to establish home-based businesses as part of a program of empowerment supported by the Seraphine Bakti Utama Foundation
Slamet Basuki: is a quality inspector for the YRE (Yayasan Rumah Energi = an Indonesian NGO focusing on renewable energy, BIOGAS) for ten years, providing training in both biogas digester construction and quality control.
Bambang Prastyanto: has worked with YRE as a driver and also runs a ‘chicken skin crackers’ business employing 20 people. Formerly an AusAID driver, he has experience and networks in the region.
Wilhelmus Leang: is the provincial coordinator of YRE for the past ten years, running BIRU (Biogas Rumah - a national biogas programme) in East and Central Java. Previously he worked with CARE International in charge of emergency and livelihood programs. He has long been involved with sustainable agriculture.
Joshua James Parfitt: is a journalist. Previously he was an intern at YRE and has produced many success stories for the BIRU program, as well as publishing articles in relevant journals and online publications. He has written a book on sustainable architecture in England. He has a master's degree in journalism and is currently working in Spain as a journalist.
Florianus Joso Pandojo: has a degree in Renewable Energy from the University of Rottenburg in Germany. He is a member of Technology without Borders (Technologi Ohne Grenzen) and actively promotes BIRU and YRE in universities.
Maximillian Schmiel: has a degree in International Cultural and Business Studies from the Universität Passau in Germany and a Masters in Arts Management from the Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg in Germany. He did a six-month internship at the YRE, learning about renewable energy and biogas in particular.
Agnes: is a doctor and previously worked for a long time at UNICEF.
Paulo Rosario: completed his Master's degree in development management at the Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. He specialized in rural development and food security, which provided him with a solid background in rural livelihoods, gender equality and institutional development.
Siti: worked on an Indonesian government project as a financier.
Pankras Kraeng: is an SSCC priest, who enjoys gardening and accompanying students in their studies.
Pilifus Junianto: is also an SSCC priest After completing his Masters in Business Administration, he was commissioned by the SSCC Province of Indonesia to serve in ministry in Rumah Ilham, Yogyakarta.
What is it that Rumah Ilham does?
We promote sustainable living by turning waste into something of value. We start with biogas, which converts livestock waste into a cooking fuel and an effective bio-liquid effluent as organic fertilizer and manure.
It is waste management that visitors can experience. We produce healthy food and, by empowering disadvantaged women and children, we are able to develop renewable energy and organic agriculture for the benefit of small businesses and livelihoods.
We also partner with GOTBAG, a German company, which has manufactured the world's first backpack made of ocean plastic and promotes the cleanliness of the sea.
Who is this project open to?
RI receives visits from university students. Sometimes young people from ACICIS (a consortium of Australian universities committed to study in Indonesia) visit us. Once, a student of Energy and Technology Management at Sriwijaya Palembang Polytechnic came on a study trip here. Then the children and people from the local area often come to see our house and work. They can experience and follow our training in biogas processing, wherein renewable energy sources are managed and distributed to the community in order to reduce the use of fossil energy and the cutting of trees for fuel.
The planet now faces an increasing number of environmental challenges including climate change, global warming, droughts, water shortages, floods, pollution and unmanageable waste. Children and adolescents should be made aware of these environmental challenges as soon as possible, as they have the future in their hands. To this end, this year we plan to hold the ESTHI (Extracurricular Environmental Sustainability Courses for Students) for the playgroup up to high school.
Finally, we are open to any visitors, young people or university students from our respective SSCC provinces in the world to come to Indonesia and have some kind of experience in Rumah Ilham. We provide cosy bamboo family houses where the visitors can stay during the program.
Is religious diversity present in Rumah Ilham?
Rumah Ilham is a natural home for diversity. The diversity starts with our team members who come from different cultures and religions. We also receive visitors from other traditions. The atmosphere that was set up here is such that everyone who visits should feel at home amidst the diversity that exists in Yogyakarta. The common denominator for diversity is agriculture. We are sure that these exchanges and experiences of diversity will be beneficial to all.
Tell us about the women who come here to learn about economics and business.
Our place works to empower women. Accompanied by our team they work in the garden, first building their "angkringan" (small food stores) and then selling from them. They need to develop their own patience in developing a pattern of independence and healthy living, and to empathise with others in the struggle to rise from life's adversities. We train the women to develop a business model using bio-mud. They also given some training in order to have some skills in biogas techniques.
Is ‘Laudato Si’ influencing your ecological action?
As Pope Francis said in the encyclical ‘Laudato Si’, we are morally responsible for caring for the environment (Gen 2:15), protecting and caring for the Earth as a common home. Rumah Ilham helps to protect and care for the Earth. Our approach and our activities seek to improve the sustainability of the environment.
Our home encourages all of those who visit or who work in Rumah Ilham to be aware of how they grow, produce, eat and distribute food for feed everyone, while at the same time respecting Mother Earth as the source of life.
Our hope is that that the small communities which start businesses can do so with little capital. Simple, discarded waste can be a source of income and benefit for many people if managed professionally. In this way, the land is preserved, ensuring that people are provided with a “comfortable home”, beginning with a house and that this way of working will inspire others. In short, starting with the home, we seek to create positive energy that will motivate, innovate and initiate others in the conservation of the environment and the prosperity of the earth.
Visitors from ACICIS – Australian University
04/13/2020