IBEKA Training on Systems Thinking

By: Pute

Training on Systems Thinking

On May 24-25, 2016, KAIL was invited by IBEKA to train Systems Thinking Techniques (STT). The training was conducted in Panaruban, filling the day 28th and 29th of IBEKA Camp and was attended by 85 participants. For two days, participants followed a series of materials of STT provided by KAIL. The materials were delivered alternately by the staff of KAIL. Behavior Over Time (BOT) by Melly Amalia.

Participants created groups, each contained 14-15 people. In the group, participants were invited to describe a vision based on case studies and were introduced to the tools of systems thinking such as indicators, Behavior Over Time (BOT), Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) and leverage points. Participants were also given the material on the logic of cause and effect. The training was not only through presentations by speakers and group discussions, but also through games such as a triangle idol and a living loop.

All participants were very enthusiastic. Many questions have arisen from the minds of the participants. During the training, many discussions echoed in all corners of the hall of the mosque where the training was held. Two days was fairly not enough to explore and to deepen the understanding of systems thinking. Participants were expected to take advantage of the systems thinking.

translated by: Bernadetta Tarigan

Making own cleaning products with Botanina

By: Kukuh Samudra

On Sunday, May the 8th, 2016 Kail House received guests from Botanina. Botanina develops homecare and skincare products from natural ingredients. Guided by Botanina, Kail staff with participants coming from various backgrounds intended to create their own cleaning products. The workshop participants were more than 10 people. At the time of introduction, they admitted how curious they were to create their own cleaning products.

In the beginning, Kak Tina and Kak Olva of Botanina explained the initial formation of their organization. Kak Tina, as the founder, had the thought of making home cleaning and baby care products when she was pregnant.

Tina thinks that typically people do not understand the process and materials used to make cleaning and baby care products on the market and the fact that these products actually contain synthetic ingredients that have negative side effects for health in the long term.

According to Tina, nature actually has given everything to us. She admitted to have wept when applying her self-made natural Telon oil to her baby. "Thank you universe, you have protected my baby," she said. There are two types of products developed by Botanina, namely household cleaning products and body care products. Currently the focus is on developing household care products, because there are already many other organizations that develop body care products. Tina added that nowadays many of us pay more attention to the aesthetics of the body rather than the health of the family.

Botanina began in developing their products since five years ago, but the marketing started about two years ago. The products they develop are diverse, ranging from soaps, oral hygiene products, natural pesticides and air freshener.

In the workshop at Kail House participants made some cleaning products, ranging from toothpaste, mouthwash, furniture cleaners and natural pesticides.

To make toothpaste ingredient needed were salt, baking soda, cacao, charcoal (powder), honey and coconut oil. These materials are full recipe and can be simplified according to availability. The main property of toothpaste is abrasive, ability to help the process of tooth remineralization and in paste form for easy use. "The foam effect on the toothpaste is actually only a suggestive of a cleaning effect," said Olva.

Botanina colleagues added that we often obsessed with very clean teeth so clean that kills all the bacteria in the body. The main purpose of a cleaning product is not to kill all the bacteria but to create a balance of ecosystems in the mouth so that the beneficial bacteria can stay alive.

Charcoal powder and baking soda both are examples of abrasive ingredients, so they can be interchanged or complementary. Cacao and salt both are needed for tooth remineralization process. Lastly, the coconut oil is used to dissolve the ingredients and honey to make the taste more palatable.

The next product is mouthwash. The materials used were simple and often encountered as spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Boil all materials together. Once cool, add salt and a little baking soda as cleaning agent.

Moving to make furniture cleaner, an important point to note is that knowledge of material properties and functions. To make glass or metal furniture cleaner, we need the alkaline material. We dissolve baking soda with water and a bit of vinegar.

To repel insects and pests, Botanina introduces a mix of 10 essential oils. Every insect or pest has its own fears to a certain flora. For example, mice are fear of coffee, while mosquitoes are afraid to lavender. To make natural pesticides, we can use a mixture of essential oils dissolved in water in a spray bottle. Instead of camphor, a few drops of the mixture on a piece of flannel fabric can be hung in a closet. Needed to understand is that essential oils are extracts of plant oils processed by distillation technique to have similar concentrations of 50-fold.

Making own cleaning products is pretty easy as long as we recognize the nature and function of materials to be utilized as well as the process of making safe and natural.

translated by: Bernadetta Tarigan

Let's Create Your Own Cleaning Products

By: Tien Widiyaningrum

A housewife would not want to come in contact with various cleaning products every day, ranging from detergents, dishwashing soap, toothpaste, floor cleaning soap and so forth. But, did you know that regular cleaning products we buy in the shops nearby were not all safe?

Cleaning products were initially created to ease daily activities. But, many of us do not realize the danger of the impact of commercial chemical-based products, ranging from long-term effects for the health of the family and environmental pollution caused by production processes and waste. Because of this concern Botanina and Kail House did a cooperation to conduct a workshop on how to make household cleaning products with a base material easy enough we encounter every day.

The workshop was held in Kail House on Sunday, May 8, 2016. The event began at 10:00 and finished at 13:00. It was attended by 24 participants from different regions and backgrounds, ranging from students to housewives. This time, Olva and Tina from Botanina took turns telling how to make toothpaste, mouthwash, all-purpose cleaner (liquid and powdered versions), pest and germ control, wood cleaners, and floor cleaning soap. Not only that, Olva and Tina also explained in details the functions of each of the base material used in making these cleaning products.

Participants were enthusiastic. Many of them asked interesting questions, animated the atmosphere in the workshop. There was also one of the participants whose children were particularly sensitive to commercial cleaning products so she was so excited in participating in the workshop. Some other participants hoped that they can figure out how to make natural soap, but unfortunately Botanina could not do that due to the fact that soap making process is complicated and lengthy. Perhaps at another time Kail House can have another chance to hold a workshop specifically to make natural soap for the participants who are still curious. We'll wait.

translated by: Bernadetta Tarigan

Kail Learning Day (HBK) : Homemade Fermentation: Kombucha and Kimchi

By: Perswina Alaili 

Opening, by Melly Amalia (KAIL) and Dhila Baharuddin (Tepian Collective)

KAIL (Kuncup Padang Ilalang) held Kail Learning Day (KLD) on Sunday, March 6 Maret, 2016, with theme of Homemade Fermentation: Kombucha and Kimchi, with Dhila Baharudin (Tepian Collective) as resource person.

The weather at the time was cloudy, a little drizzle and windy. Participants started gathering at 09:00 and the event started around 10:00. The participants were divided into three groups. Participants KLD this time consisted of children ages 9 years and the mothers/housewives. Dhila opened the event with a history-making kimchi in Korea.

Making Kimchi

Kimchi is a vegetable with a mixture of various spices preserved by fermentation methods. It is usually consumed as a side dish, can be consumed directly or can be cooked into soups, as sautéed greens, and others. Kimchi is generally made of a type of vegetable chicory, but in its native it is made from various kinds of vegetables that available locally. It can be stored for a long time and is useful to meet their daily food needs.

Fermented kimchi is done by using biological agents such as bacteria to decompose various substances in foods to be more easily digested by the body. The event of making kimchi together called "kimjan" and can be done in spare time while hanging out with family.

Dhila explained about ingredients needed to make kimchi (left and right) 

Kimchi is typically made from various types of vegetables, but the most popular is of cabbage, carrots, and cucumber. In Korea, the whole kimchi is sliced before being presented as complementary foods (side dish) at the dinner table. It can also be cooked again as a mixture of sautéed beef, chicken, pork, and other vegetables, or even made as flavored spicy and sour soup. Eating kimchi can nourish the digestive tract since we consume good bacteria when eating kimchi. Fibers and nutrient contents in vegetables are also more easily digested by the body because it has been through the process of fermentation by bacteria. Kimchi can also be sprinkled with sesame seeds to add delicacy. In addition to soup and vegetables, kimchi can be made into pancake mix, fried rice, or kimbap (rice rolls Korean style)

The materials and equipment needed has been provided on the tables (see pictures above). They include chicory, carrots, cucumber and spices that are needed such as chives, celery, garlic, ginger, onions, and soy sauce.

At the workshop, participants stored kimchi sheets in plastic food boxes. These sheets are arranged stacked in the solid state. Kimchi can be directly consumed or saved. In 2 days, the sealed boxes are to be inflated so you need to be careful when creating and storing kimchi that you have made.

Making Kombucha

Furthermore, Dhila also has prepared materials for making kombucha tea. Kombucha is a drink that contains very little alcohol. This drink is also made by fermentation. Biological agents used are colonies of bacteria and fungus called SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) shaped in the form of sheets, similar to Nata de Coco. Scoby is a mixture of bacteria Acetobacter with yeast that is generally the species Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Candida stellata, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Torulaspora delbrueckii, and Zygosaccharomyces bailii.

The principle of making kombucha is to make sugar solution, give enough Scoby seeds and fermented for more than 7 days. Yeast will change nutrients and sugar into alcohol (very small quantities). The bacteria will break down the bonds of sugars and nutrients contained in the solution so it is more easily digested by the body. This is the reason why kombucha is safe for consumption by diabetics, as glucose or fructose has been converted into a type of sugar that is easily digested by the body.

Dhila explained components needed to make kombucha (upper),
Scoby seeds (middle) and tea mixed with sugar (lower)

Kombucha can also be used as vinegar by way of keeping it longer until it reaches high acidity. This vinegar can be used for cooking and also for cleaning agent. In addition to kombucha and vinegar, if you like sour candies or pickles, you can also soak the fruits (or other ingredients such as orange peel, ginger pieces, etc.) that you like in a solution of kombucha. Then, they can be consumed and served with sugar so they taste sweeter.

Kail Learning Day was closed with a lunch with menu kimchi and vegetables that have been made by previous participants. Although quite short with very affordable/cheap registration fee, participants get a lot of benefits in the form of knowledge and happiness to share with other participants. See you at the next edition of KAIL Learning Day!

SYSTEM THINKING TRAINING: SELF DEVELOPMENT

Author: Debby Josephine

On February the 13, 2016, KAIL held a training of System Thinking with the theme Self Development, at KAIL House, Kampung Cigarugak, village Giri Mekar, district Cilengkrang, regency Bandung. The training was attended by 19 trainees from various organizations, high schools, universities, and individuals from Bandung and Jakarta as well as 4 of KAIL staff who accompanied the participants. The event was opened with introduction about KAIL by Deta and continued with the training material System Thinking by Agustein and Melly.

The training aimed to provide insights to the participants that the problems in this world are connected to each other to form a complex tangle of relationships. This included introducing System Thinking to the participants that can support their personal development in dealing with the social and environment issues and in seeking solution, by taking into account the impact on long term basis.

Visioning

The approach of the training was to envision the participants own personal vision and mission for the next 5 years. Then the training continued with the introduction of a variety of methodologies and tools that are used in System Thinking, namely: Behavior Over Time diagram (BOT), Causal Loop Diagrams (CLD) and Leverage Points. Participants were given the opportunity to practice these tools according to their condition.

Living Loop

Overall the training process went smoothly. The participants asked questions and discussed very actively, we felt that the time was far from enough to accommodate opinions of all participants. They were also eager and able to follow the entire chain of events until late afternoon. In addition to learning in classroom, the participants were also invited to understand about Thinking System through a variety of games and simulations. With this interactive learning, participants were expected to perceive and to understand the complexity of the issues better.

The training lasted for one day and hosted alternately by KAIL staff; Agustein Okamita, Deta Ratna Kristanti, Melly Amalia, and Any Sulistyowati.

Translated by: Bernadetta Tarigan

CREATING ACTIVITY JOURNAL

Author: Deta R. Kristanti

The first Day Child Learning KAIL (HBA, Hari Belajar Anak) in 2016 was held on Sunday, January the 31st. This event was attended by nine children who live around KAIL House. Children were invited to create Journal of Encouragement HBA KAIL. The goal was that children have a track record of their own respective HBA activities. The event this time was guided by Kak Deta, Kak Debby and Kak Widya.

At exactly 10 am, Kak Debby was to take the children gathering in the front yard of KAIL House. The event was opened with the play "Magic Thumb". Children were asked to affix their thumb on the objects mentioned by Kak Debby. It was very exciting. The children run around trying to find the object in question.

When finished playing, the children gathered in a circle and talked together with Kak Deta and Kak Debby, about activities of HBA they followed in 2015. Some of them still remembered the activities clearly, like mushrooms study, making stamp leaves, making binoculars as well as making grasshoppers from palm leaves. They also remembered hearing a tale of Jack and Beanstalk and that the beans were very high.

That day the children also listened to a fairy tale. A tale entitled as "Why Animals Do Have Tails?" was told by Kak Deta. After listening to it, then the children were asked to create a journal. The facilitators have prepared a number of papers, cardboard, markers, scissors and glue paper to make journals materials.

At first, the children were welcome to choose the color paper they wanted to be on the cover of their journal. Color paper was then placed on a cardboard so that the cover of the journal becomes harder and stronger. Children were also welcome to take sheets of plain paper, paper with the words "Journal of Encouragement", "KAIL Children's Day Learning" and the logo of KAIL. Children then collected the plain paper to be the contents of the journal pages. It turned out that there was a trouble of arranging. However, they were yielding and willing to learn. Some of the children also did not dare to be creative outside of example, but most tried to make the cover of the journal to be interesting and different from the others. About forty minutes later, the books of Journal of Encouragement HBA KAIL were ready for use.

Supposedly the event was closed with the activities of watching movies together. However, due to technical constraints, it was postponed. Hopefully the kids stay happy and excited to join HBA again in February!

Translated by: Bernadetta Tarigan

Call for Donation: second hand bazaar

For celebrating KAIL's 12th birthday, KAIL will organized a bazaar on 6th July 2014.

We accept donation of used clothes, books, toys, house equipment to be sold in that bazaar.

The money collected from this event will be used for finance community activities around Kail House.

For more information, please contact:
Melly: 082127253087 / 085794904686
Selly: 082118632353
Titin: 081321137231

Collection point:
Rumah KAIL
Kp. Cigarugak, Kelurahan Giri Mekar, Kec. Cilengkrang, Kab. Bandung
Entry from: Jln. Cijambe, Ujung Berung

Deadline for collection: 3rd July 2014