From Prailiu Village, a Youth with a Dream to Reach the World

By Writer Astari Pinasthika Sarosa

05 January 2023 - 11:56

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Feeling the need to handle more challenges at work, Adhy Aner Benny Mangngi decided to leave the Tax Service, Counseling, and Consultation Office and open his own business in April 2022. With his friend, Steven, Adhy started selling catering and chicken to local residents.

The 30-year-old initially used word of mouth to sell StarCatering and StarBroiler products in Prailiu Village, East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). Then, his friend invited Adhy to participate in the Skills for Inclusive Digital Participation (SIDP) with the British Council.

Aimed to improve the digital capabilities of individuals from marginalized communities, including local youth, women, and persons living with disabilities (PLWD), the programme funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has successfully helped Adhy to use the internet positively. The training, in line with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology's national digital literacy programme, has successfully supported Adhy in developing his business.

While working at KP2KP, Adhy's digital skills were still very limited and he didn't know about all of the available applications that could help him.

"Actually, it was just for fun initially because friends invited me, and I wasn't too interested in studying the digital world," said Adhy. Together with 28 other participants, Adhy attended SIDP basic and intermediate classes.

During the training, Adhy became more and more interested in the digital world. He learned to use various digital applications to not only help his business, but also his daily activities. One of the applications that he learned to use was Canva, an online graphic design tool to help create advertisements and other marketing needs.

Due to his busy schedule, Adhy also uses the Google Docs application to communicate with his business partner. They can still monitor each other's work using this application when busy. In the future, Adhy also wants to learn how to use Microsoft Excel to help record the finances of his business.

Adhy can now reach buyers outside his village. "80 percent of buyers know my business because of Facebook and WhatsApp," he explained. In fact, Adhy now has customers outside his district, in West Sumba. Furthermore, he has ambitions to expand his business beyond Sumba.

Then, why didn’t Adhy learn more about the digital world beforehand?

First, Adhy feels that his area does not have a good internet connection. Therefore, it is difficult for the people in Prailiu Village to be able to use the internet optimally.

In addition, the lack of education regarding digital applications positively inhibits young people in his area from using the internet wisely. Adhy saw that the people around him often used their cell phones only to play online games. Other businesses around him also do not use media content in an attractive way to promote their products or services.

"Before, I didn’t want to use social media because I saw other businesses, and their content was not interesting," Adhy continued. However, after attending the SIDP training, he figured out how to create an advertisement for his business that drives attention.

He also wants to help the surrounding community instead of keeping the information learned from SIDP to himself. Adhy mentioned that there the local youth need to get better digital education. Therefore, he hoped that by sharing what he had learned at SIDP, his friends could also start using technology in a positive way.