Our Story

About Du Anyam

Working closely with the talented women artisans of Indonesia, Du Anyam creates wicker products through the most authentic craftsmanship.

With the goal of economically empowering and improving the livelihood of women in rural Indonesia, Du Anyam produces corporate souvenirs, hotel amenities, and home decor collections that are available in local and international markets.

To date Du Anyam has empowered over 1600+ women artisans in more than 54+ villages located in
East Nusa Tenggara, South Kalimantan, and Papua with three main pillars:

Empower Women, Promote Culture, and Improve Livelihood.

Background

Du ‎Anyam started in 2014 due to the high socio-economic problems behind the malnutrition rate for mothers and children in East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara.

At that time, the cost of daily necessities was still a challenge for local communities. Farming is the main occupation of the East Nusa Tenggara villagers. From modest farming lots in home backyards, villagers use their harvests for daily consumption and sell extra yields for income. In reality, seasonal harvests prone to crop failures do not generate sufficient income for living costs, much less for unplanned expenses, such as transportation, health, or education. The villages needed better financial resilience through a more stable year-long income source insusceptible to weather or diseases.

Driven by the desire to understand and improve the livelihood of mothers and children in rural Indonesia, Du Anyam (Du’a: mother; Anyam: weaving) was founded.

Du Anyam

Our Approach

By providing alternative work in the form of weaving, Du Anyam provides an opportunity for women to earn additional income besides farming which is seasonal and rarely generates cash.

Slowly but surely, weaving activities began to develop and the impact became wider. When the first generation of mother weavers shared their stories from one village to another, other weavers also joined in this weaving activity with the belief that weaving opens opportunities for them to be more economically empowered as well as preserve the local culture.

Research has shown that when women are given more financial autonomy, they are more likely to focus spending on nutritious food, health care, and education. Starting from this thought, Du Anyam continues to strive to innovate, make changes, and make the greatest possible contribution for women to have a better life.

Your Impact

How We Make A Positive Impact

It started from a single strand of palmyra leaf, conceiving a simple hope – to bring livelihood to the remote rural communities.

Together with Du Anyam, mother weavers can continue to hone their weaving skills, take an important role in communities, make decisions for their families, and build confidence to move forward and make changes in their lives.

With the support of partner organizations, Du Anyam is now able to expand the social benefits provided, not only to the women weavers, but also to the local community through providing scholarships, nutritional packages, reading glasses, solar lamps, and clean water jerry cans.

The Du Anyam approach in finding sustainable solutions to complex socio- economic issues in East Nusa Tenggara is now replicated in other areas of Indonesia, where Du Anyam creates unique products made from Waru tree skins from Papua (Noken basket) and Purun grass from South Kalimantan.