Javanese traditional songs, accompanied by gamelan, ring out from morning at a gathering in Metro Kibang district in East Lampung, Lampung province.
Guests arrive at noon, sitting in three rows based on group. The men wear caping farmer hats, while the women wear headscarves.
The first row of seats is occupied by the Metro Kibang Youth Group (KPPMK), from Kibang village. The group received 100 goats in 2006 from Heifer International Indonesia, an NGO focusing on rural community development issues.
In the second row of seats are members of the Eka Mandiri Social Community Group (KSM), also from Kibang village. Twenty-five of the members received 100 goats from the youth group in 2007.
The third row of seats are occupied by members of the KSM Rejo Makmur from Karangrejo village and KSM Ambon Kuning from Metro Kibang district.
On this day, the first group, comprising 25 farmers, hands over 100 goats free of charge to the second group, which will later hand over goats to the third group, also comprising 25 farmers.
The principle of "small is beautiful", developed by sociologist E.F. Schumacher, has been truly implemented in the rotating goat-assistance program. The role of local NGOs as counselors is vital in making the assistance effective as it is handed over to other groups.
The NGOs are authorized to verify the next eligible recipients.
On this hot afternoon, a farmer in the first row, Ngadiman, 67, sings a traditional Javanese mocopat.
"My brothers, please accept these goats, raise them well, and hopefully they will help improve your well-being," he sings.
A farmer representing the second group, Darmo, 70, having accepted the goats from the first group, replies in verse.
"Thank you, my brother, we will raise these goats the best we can, and hopefully God will provide us all with blessing," he sings.
As migrants from Java, the farmers retain the tradition of working closely together for the community's well-being by breeding goats and growing crops.
Recipients of the assistance from Heifer International have also been taught how to make organic fertilizer from goat droppings.
Wagiman, 60, from Kibang village, says farmers in the village have benefited from the goat-assistance program for the past three years.
Besides owning his own goats now, Wagiman has also learned how to grow organic rice.
"Farmers in our village have been making their own organic fertilizer for the past three years," he says.
"We also eat organic rice now. The vegetables we cook or sell at the market are also free of chemical fertilizers. They taste better and are healthier."
Wagiman says he received three goats - one male and three females - from Heifer International in 2006. In three years' time, his little herd had blossomed to more than a dozen goats. In 2008, Wagiman was able give away four goats to other farmers.
He uses his homemade fertilizer on his vegetable and coffee crops, and also sells in neighboring villages for Rp 20,000 (US$2) a liter for the liquid fertilizer, and Rp 5,000 a kilogram for the solid fertilizer.
Heifer International's regional manager for Sumatra, Abdul Syam, says the assistance program is aimed at raising a sense of independence and sharing among farmers.
"A rich person donating or sharing with the poor is common, but if a person who was previously regarded as poor can later provide assistance to other poor people, that's amazing," he says.
"We call it the principle of sharing by rotating. We teach the poor to become independent and to have dignity."
