Empower Women with Sustainable Livelihood

Dear Valued Donor,

Yayasan INFEST regularly organizes coordination meetings for the management of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Community (KOPI) in two districts, namely Ponorogo and Blitar. These meetings aim to discuss community developments, respond to emerging issues affecting community members—such as human trafficking case handling, economic accompaniment, and the development of community-based enterprises. In December, Yayasan INFEST and KOPI organized one district-level coordination meeting as part of these regular efforts.

The activity was conducted on Wednesday, 7December 2025, at the KOPI Ponorogo Secretariat. The meeting was attended by 30 participants, consisting of representatives of KOPI and BUM KOPI (Badan Usaha Milik KOPI / KOPI-owned business entities) from five villages in Ponorogo District. The main objective of the meeting was to share lessons learned from various activities implemented by KOPI at the district level, including case accompaniment and joint activities with relevant government agencies.

Session 1: Case Accompaniment Learning

The first session focused on learning from case accompaniment experiences. Alfian, one of the KOPI administrators involved in assisting a suspected human trafficking (TPPO) case, provided an update on the case. He explained that the alleged TPPO case involving a training center (BLK) in Tatung Balong has been formally reported to the Ponorogo District Police. The current stage of the process involves the examination of witnesses, including the victim’s husband, the victim’s friend, and a representative from INFEST Yogyakarta.

Alfian emphasized that navigating the legal process requires significant patience and physical endurance, as a single witness may be questioned by the police for an entire day, from morning until late at night. Therefore, case accompaniment requires strong mental resilience and physical readiness.

Agus Wibowo from KOPI Ngendut added that this was his first experience accompanying a case at the police level. He shared that reporting a case to law enforcement was more challenging than he had initially anticipated. Physical and mental endurance were tested while accompanying the victim throughout a full day of examination. He highlighted that companions must remain patient, resilient, and mentally prepared to avoid losing motivation. These experiences provided other KOPI members with a clearer understanding of the realities of case accompaniment involving law enforcement agencies.

Session 2: Experience Sharing on Joint Activities with the Manpower Office

The second session focused on experience sharing from joint activities with the Manpower Office. Tohari, as a KOPI representative involved in these activities, highlighted that KOPI’s presence is still not widely recognized by the broader community. As a result, there is a need for stronger and more systematic socialization efforts, both through public activities and case accompaniment.

Looking ahead, Tohari emphasized the importance of strengthening synergy with relevant stakeholders so that efforts to empower Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) in economic, social, and legal aspects can be implemented collaboratively and more effectively.

Research Team Visit

During the meeting, KOPI Ponorogo also received a visit from a research team from IAIN Ponorogo. The team expressed interest in learning more about KOPI and its activities to date. Moving forward, both parties plan to collaborate on community empowerment programs.