S

yamsiyah is a former female migrant worker who worked as a domestic maid in Saudi Arabia for 12 years.

The 47-year-old returned home in 2007 and formed a monthly arisan group with former migrant workers in Batu Nisung hamlet, Karang Dima village, Sumbawa regency, West Nusa Tenggara.

An arisan is a group of people that meet regularly, typically once a month, and pool money.

Every month, a person'€™s name is drawn to receive the pooled funds. This is repeated until every member has received the same amount of money they put in.

From arisan groups, 38 former migrant workers have formed Notang No Putis, which currently owns dozens of businesses, including saving and lending programs. These businesses support the former migrant workers and their families.

'€œWe were able to collect Rp 700,000 [US$61,33] from members'€™ fees in 2009 as capital. Now, each member can earn up to Rp 1.2 million a month from the profits derived from the businesses that we manage,'€ Syamsiah, who is fondly called Cam, said on Thursday.

The group, which has been supported by the Koslata Institute and Tifa Foundation for the last four years, also runs a cattle hoof and head processing business with monthly sales of up to Rp 35 million.

'€œThe most prominent business is the cattle business. Virtually every member of the group has their own business, such as food stalls and grocery shops,'€ said Notang No Putis secretary Basriyanto, 40.

According to him, the group also holds monthly meetings that include a discussion on migrant worker protection.

He said the purpose of the group was not solely about how to establish new businesses, but also for those who wished to work as migrant workers, enabling them to learn the relevant skills and about scams or violence, which migrant workers often run afoul of while abroad.

'€œThrough the group, families of migrant workers can easily get access to information and advocacy if their relatives encounter problems.,'€ Basriyanto said.

'€œSince its establishment in 2009, we have been able to resolve dozens of cases of migrant workers who had not been paid. We have also able to minimize the number of illegal workers,'€ he added.

Separately, manpower placement affairs head at the Sumbawa Manpower and Transmigrations Agency, Nurhikmah said the Poverty Alleviation Through Safe Migration Program (PKMMA), spearheaded by the Koslata Institute in Sumbawa, was strategic to the decline in the number of migrant worker-related cases, as well as the economic empowerment of former migrant workers.

He acknowledged that poverty among the former migrant worker community in Sumbawa was attributed to the community'€™s inaptitude in managing finances.

Sumbawa contributes greatly to the placement of migrant workers overseas, apart from East, Central, West and North Lombok on Lombok Island.

The difference is that migrant workers from Lombok dominate the Asian market, especially Malaysia, whereas Sumbawa'€™s migrant workers are sent to Saudi Arabia and other Middle-Eastern countries.

Based on data from the Sumbawa Manpower and Transmigration Agency, the regency sent more than 4,000 migrant workers abroad in 2013.