The HASTANI working group, which was formed in August 2023, as the initiation of the Multiplication of Stube HEMAT in Lampung continues to progress in the midst of the dry season in regions in Indonesia, including Lampung. The drought has been felt by people in East Lampung for approximately 4-5 months. Moreover, the current situation is more difficult, especially the economic problems of the lower class. Agricultural products, such as rice and others have a good price but not enough to meet their daily needs. How comes? Because they have to face the increasing costs of daily necessities, although agricultural products are good, the cost of living is expensive, so nothing has changed. In October 2023, farmers were still experiencing problems because they could not plant crops in the fields due to the scarcity of water and rain.

In Tanjungharapan village, Marga Tiga district, East Lampung Regency, there is a group of women and men who are active in processing their agricultural products, one of the products is "Tiwul" from Mocaf flour (modified cassava flour). The making of tiwul from mocaf is relatively similar to the making of tiwul in general made in the household. However, the difference is in the way to treat the cassava material that will be made into tiwul. The HASTANI community, which is still in its early work, is in the process of developing to process their agricultural products into derivative products, for example, cassava material is processed into flour called Mocaf flour, and then further it is processed into tiwul. If you look at their tiwul, theirs is very different, as it is clean, the natural color is brighter, and it has no smell. The tiwul that we usually find is commonly pale in color, it has the smell of soaked cassava, and it is not pure because there are fibers of the cassava that are also processed.

In two weeks, the HASTANI group can process at least 100 kilograms of cassava which can be processed into 70 kilograms of mocaf flour. Next, it will become at least 60-65 kilograms of tiwul. Although the process is simple, it yields quality products. If we read the Mocaf tiwul literature, it is fermented cassava product, that’s good to be consumed by people with diabetes, because of its low sugar content. The enthusiasm of women and men including youth who want to learn and join the HASTANI community has not been widespread known and neither has their products. However, their enthusiasm for processing their agricultural products needs to be appreciated. Apart from being able to provide alternative sources of food and ingredients for making processed food, the group can increase the value or price of their agricultural products. Even though it is not directly commercialized, they can experience the results of their hard work by selling their tiwul innovation to friends, church members, and others who need tiwul for consumption and resale.

Currently, in East Lampung, the price of tiwul is able to equalize itself with the price of rice in the range of IDR 11.000-13.000. Even, one can get more profits by making tiwul as a snack in the form of savory tiwul with a sprinkling of grated coconut and tiwul chips. Tiwul is no longer the lower classes food, as tiwul is also found in supermarkets consumed by the upper middle class. There are more and more tiwul innovations that can be enjoyed and found anywhere. ***

The young generation in the village tends to be less proactive in being involved in development in their area because they prefer to migrate to other areas for seeking a better life, even though the village has great potency of natural resources that can be managed to fulfill their daily needs. Related to this issue, the Multiplication of Stube HEMAT in Lampung held a workshop at Pondok Diakonia GKSBS Batanghari by inviting Sugianto (head of village financial affairs) and Dendy Setyo Harjo (head of Karang Taruna Banarjoyo village) (Sunday, 12/03/2023). The workshop aims to: (1) Participants know the direction of village development; (2) Participants know how the young generation contributes to village development; (3) Participants have an overview of their roles and functions in development in their village.

The workshop was hosted by Yesaya and Griya from Pondok Diakonia who started the event by describing the village's uniqueness and interesting things, as well as observing village developments in an increasingly modern era. The first question asked to Sugianto was how the development of the village in this advanced era. “We should be grateful that now the village is quite advanced, both in facilities and infrastructure, compared to several decades ago. In the past, you had to go to the market to go to Metro City, now it's close because it's in our village. In the past, we had to wait for public transportation for hours, now many people have private vehicles. In the past many street were dark, now almost all corners of the village are lighted with electricity,” he answered.

"Furthermore, for economic issues, currently there are many creative people. In the past, people only thought about how to grow rice, but now they are more innovative by planting various plants, so there is a great chance of getting profits, especially supported by good road access. In this digital era, I feel left behind with young people, communication and information are fast and widely available, but it makes people reluctant to gather, so there are only a few young people who are active in Karang Taruna of Banarjoyo village," Sugianto added to his explanation.

Regarding the role of young people in the village, Dendy Setyo Harjo said, “Young people are a village's great potency, if a village wants to have progress, it must involve young people in development. Most people think that young people don't know anything, or they can't do anything. As a young person, do you want to accept such a statement?” Several participants stated that they did not want to be seen as incompetent, because they could form sports groups, develop study groups, or farming and livestock entrepreneurship groups, although Banarjoyo village has 160 listed young members and just 7 people were active. The most common activities carried out are meetings, commemorating independence day, and taking part in security service during religious celebrations. Dendy admitted that young people have not been much involved in village development because they do not know where they are going. It’s admitted that the village apparatus several times called for a joint meeting, but it was limited to carry out the village government policy to hold celebratory activities. He also complained that there was no special fund that Karang Taruna could manage. So far, if the Karang Taruna plans a program, the members propose or collect funding by themselves.

Responding to this, Sugianto explained that actually there are village funds that can be budgeted from the village government, but so far they have not been specifically allocated because still no proposed programs to be discussed during the budget planning. Till now, youth activities of Karang Taruna have been included in the village's general activity fund.

In closing the workshop, Dendy emphasized, “Young people don't have to travel far to become successful people. It cannot be avoided that the demands force children who are smart and have sufficient abilities to leave their villages. In my opinion, there needs to be cooperation and openness involving young people in village development. Young people need to be asked what they want, so they can be actively involved in the village where they were born and raised.” While Sugianto added, “For me, young people are village potency that must be managed and empowered for village development. Youth is needed in the village, if the youth are not active then the village will not develop. Young people have a better future, and they also have enough energy to make changes in the village. The village government needs to be more open and proactive in involving village youths so they know the direction of village development and are willing to be involved in the development.” ***

Nearly 70 percent of Indonesian people live in villages. With such a large percentage, the village has great potency to support the progress of a country. Unfortunately, many villages have not received attention from the government for development, so the participation of the community, especially young people, is needed to develop villages. The discussion 'Getting to Know All about Village' became an important activity held by the Multiplication of Stube HEMAT in Lampung (Saturday-Sunday, 25-26/02/2023). ‘The participants of the discussion are expected to have a correct understanding of the village, have an overview of the importance of the village in nation-building, and have knowledge about the role and function of society," Rev. Theofilus conveyed his hope in the opening of activity held in the Catur Swako village, East Lampung.

Moderated by Cahyo from the Pondok Diakonia (Diaconal Dormitory) of GKSBS Batanghari, and resource person Sukadi, SP., this activity was designed in a presentation and a question and answer session. As a resource person, Sukadi has an educational background of Agricultural Social Economics and works as a village assistant in a village in East Lampung. As a village assistant, he manages the village potency having hilly topography used as tourism objects in collaboration with the Youth Organization and the local Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes). "Village is a legal community unit with household administration based on origin rights and customs recognized by the central government and domiciled in the district area. Etymologically the word village comes from Sanskrit, namely Deca which means homeland, hometown, or birthplace. Geographically, a village is defined as a group of houses or shops in a country area, smaller than a town," said the source person opening the discussion. The village has great potential if it’s managed properly and by having a good understanding of the village will help someone not to underestimate the village anymore.

Sukadi appreciated the multiplication of Stube-HEMAT in Lampung which initiated a learning forum so that children from the village have an experience of knowing themselves, including getting to know their village. He hoped that many village children will make progress so that they can develop, and then manage the potency of their village. Furthermore, he explained the village as an administrative area under the regency, leadership, and ranks in the village government, village structure, and village supervisory bodies. All of this is to make the village self-sufficient, capable of developing villages, and able to empower village communities, having the ability to see and manage existing resources, both natural and human resources. Sukadi encouraged the participants to take part in village development. If there is open access from the village, young people can propose positive activities to be implemented in the village.

Next, Sunday's activity was a workshop with the church members to see their own and regional potency led by Rev. Theofilus A.R. and Thomas Julianto. Most church members are farmers, so they produce agricultural products such as coffee, cocoa, ginger, turmeric, bananas, and cassava. In the workshop, they hope to increase their income, but they were powerless because agricultural products had very low prices, far compared to the increasingly high living needs. There are two things that they hope for, namely being able to manage products so they have high selling value and finding the right buyers/markets. They complained that the market often gives no appropriate reward for the efforts of the farmers.

The workshop identified business potencies and opportunities that can be initiated and the need for community and church community empowerment. So for the follow-up, the need for training and coaching to manage agricultural products, and a need for networks to bridge farmers and the right market. In addition, the activity stimulated participants to have a sense of belonging to the village where they live and encourages young people not to feel inferior but optimistic that they can also be successful. ***