Starting from the need to improve family economic capacity in the West Manggarai community, an idea was born to form a cooperative as a forum that could drive the family economy in groups in the form of business groups. Concurrently, in the year 2020, the Social Enterprise (SE) department at Gugah Nurani Indonesia HO sought to develop a new program, focusing on the establishment and growth of cooperatives in several Community Development Programs (CDPs), one of which was the Manggarai Barat CDP. 
Coinciding with this situation, in March 2020, a cooperative was formed in one of the villages under the Manggarai Barat CDP's guidance, namely Pangkolong village. This cooperative was named "Consumer Cooperative Sinar Nurani Mabar" (KSNM), with the aim of facilitating the needs of the business groups established by the community.

At the beginning, there were only about 20 members when the cooperative was established, with 10 of them being parents of sponsored children. However, within a span of 3 years, the cooperative managed to attract a membership of 1,035 individuals, including 208 parents of sponsored children. Similarly, in terms of lending activities, at the beginning, there were only 30 borrowers, but as of now, the number has grown to 994 borrowers.

Looking at KSNM's savings and loan activities in the last two months, it can be said that the cooperative has been quite successful. This is evident from its balance sheet and profit/loss records. In April 2023, the primary savings increased from Rp. 0 to Rp. 9,350,000, while in May 2023, the mandatory savings rose from Rp. 6,350,000 to Rp. 47,708,000, and the voluntary savings increased from Rp. 12,974,000 to Rp. 32,440,000. Moreover, the net profit for April 2023, which was Rp. 8,739,000, increased to Rp. 11,191,000 in May 2023.

KSNM has also made a significant impact on the community in the Manggarai Barat CDP village. The evident effects on the community include their liberation from the clutches of loans from middlemen. Instead, they borrow from the cooperative with more reasonable interest rates, which has improved their standard of living and family economy. Furthermore, the community can sell their garden produce, such as coffee and nira, to the cooperative. The money earned from these sales can be used to repay cooperative loans and mandatory savings. The cooperative purchases the members' harvests at fair market prices. Additionally, at the end of the year, KSNM shares the Surplus Operating Results (SHU) among members who frequently sell their harvests to the cooperative and are active buyers of cooperative products.

On the other side, the benefits gained by community members as cooperative members also contribute to improving their standard of living. The borrowed funds can be used for children's school expenses, daily livelihood needs, paying the wages of agricultural laborers who assist in their farming activities, and augmenting the capital of family trading businesses.

KSNM has also succeeded in creating job opportunities. In its early establishment in 2020, all daily management roles in the cooperative were voluntary. However, by 2021, the cooperative was able to provide salaries for 2 of its administrators. In 2022, the salaried administrators increased to 4 individuals, and in the current year, 2023, the cooperative is able to employ 5 salaried daily administrators. KSNM also supports gender equality, evident from the current membership figures where the number of women, which is 611, exceeds that of men, which is 424.

Written by: 
Sumedi Ryan Hutagalung 
DME Gugah Nurani Indonesia HO