The difficulty of implementing several government programmes in Dilam has attracted one local NGO to conduct several empowerment programmes in Dilam. This NGO has had experiences with empowerment programmes in several villages in West Sumatra. This non-profit organisation got sponsorship from an international donor. This NGO starts its empowerment programme by introducing a PRA programme to the rural leaders and key people such as religious leaders (alim-ulama), cultural or clan leaders
(Datuk or ninik mamak), and executives (Nagari officers). Since it is a local NGO, the empowerment programmes were in line with the West Sumatra Minangkabau adat,
especially in designing self-help groups which incorporating the principles of Minangkabau customs. For example, the meeting or discussion follows the regulations in adat and the design of the group based on matrilineal Minangkabau custom. The process also follows the bottom-up system of development, and respected the norms and values available in a Nagari. Thus, Dilam people quickly accepted this NGO empowerment programme, which was started in 200 1 .
Through several PRA activities, which are facilitated by this NGO, these key people are be able to create proposals for many activities to be implemented in Dilam, including a programme of how to accumulate capital to strengthen the economy of rural people. This capital accumulation programme designed by people, which has resulted in the
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Arisan Suku credit scheme, that is favoured by most of people in Dilam, as has been described above.
To complement its involvement in the process of development in Dilam, the NGO continues its empowerment programme, through supporting a group of women, who have hobbies such as sewing and embroidering, with small loans for purchasing sewing machines and sewing materials. The NGO also helps women to market their products. There is also a Simpan Pinjam credit facility provided for farmers in the form of cash, named "Koperasi Lumbung Parawitan". This soft loan has flexible repayment procedures and low interest rates.
Farmers' perceptions of NGO's role in Dilam are positive. This is reflected in their enthusiasm to participate in Simpan Pinjam. Based on my observation using the PRA technique (Venn Diagram) in a women farmers' group, it was shown that the "Koperasi Lumbung Parawitan" is the most preferred among other financial institutions available in Dilam. The problem was that this cooperative could not cover many people because of its limited budget. One participant asserts that:
The NGO that has worked well to develop our Nagari, and its cooperative (Simpan Pinjam) has proven to be effective to help us despite only numbers of Dilam people received it. I hope that the NGO can continue to give assistance to Dilam, especially to improve and increase the coverage of its Simpan Pinjam recipients. (Focus Group Discussion, 1 3 January 2004).
The positive responses of Dilam people towards the NGO's involvement in the process of development in Dilam reflects the fact that Dilam people are open for any interventions from outside as long as they are in line with norms or values held by them. This means that Dilam people are eager for any transformation that is appropriate to them. The NGO, which applied a bottom-up planning system in development and respected the adat and religion held by rural people, is accepted and preferred by Dilam people.
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Conclusion
This chapter shows that, economically, Dilam people are still in poor condition. This is reflected by the low level of income of the majority of the population. The social conditions of people are still unsatisfactory because the greater numbers of participant have only an elementary school education level. Sanitation and drinking water facilities are also insufficient. Culturally, however, Dilam people still strongly held the norms and values of their traditional Minangkabau customs. The rural credit system, especially the formal one, is not developed properly. Formal credit programmes, which consist of credit programmes that are delivered by the government through banks and cooperatives, mostly have been terminated because of the hesitant of the formal credit providers to give service to the rural people, especially the farmers. The credit programmes from local government still exist but are directed towards selected people only, and suffered by high default. The remote location of Dilam village contributes for the low economic and social condition, in a sense that modernisation process is slowly proceed to this village, while formal credit programmes are also fail to give service to the rural poor.
The informal rural credit systems, on the other hand, which consist a range of informal credit schemes such as Julo-julo, Simpan pinjam, and moneylenders, are significant in assisting rural people. The traditional informal credit schemes such as Julo-julo and
Simpan Pinjam are successful to help rural people with credit needs. The success of these credit schemes is mainly because the design of these credit schemes follows the culture of Minangkabau, and therefore, rural people respect and prefer to use these informal credit programmes. The Arisan Suku, in particular, which is a combination of
Julo-julo and Simpan Pinjam, follows Minangkabau matrilineal system. Despite the small amount of money to be contributed, they can help the participants for daily consumption and in emergency situations. The Arisan Suku is not only advantageous for rural people economically, but also socially and culturally. Socially, it can unite people in one suku (clan) and they help each other, especially in unfortunate situation. Culturally, the Arisan Suku meeting can strengthen rural people's knowledge about Minangkabau adat, especially for the young generation.
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The success implementation of traditional informal credit programmes in Dilam can't be happened without assistance of a local NOO, which assists the rural people to design development programmes in the village through a participatory approach. The NOO's assistance is in line with the concept of empowerment and follows the local culture of Minangkabau' s matrilineal system.
However, it is also important to notice that the fund received from these traditional informal credit programmes is sufficient for fulfilling consumption needs only, and is inadequate to be invested for increasing people's income. For this purpose, rural people usually go to the moneylenders, who can provide larger loans, but with high interests and strict repayment procedure.