Written by Melanie Patching, who knows Impact Berry from the very beginning and has accompanied the founders in their path of building a sustainable ethically impacting business.
Celebrating fatherhood: meet Rahmat
Rahmat distributing school supplies for children on Lombok
It’s Father’s Day tomorrow and we want to say a special congratulations to Rahmat, founder of Pituq Community Foundation, who recently became a father!. A little baby girl was born to Rahmat and his wife Jaana in May 2021.
Congratulations!
Rahmat is an exceptional person, and we want to share his story with you because we find him very inspiring and we think you will, too!
Even though he became a father just last month, we feel that Rahmat has been ‘fathering’ the community in Lombok for years. Having been born and raised there, his love for the island and the wellbeing of its people shines clearly through everything he does.
He founded the non-profit Pituq Community Foundation to empower the people of Lombok to live better lives by providing various education, upskilling, waste management and mental health initiatives.
All profits from their charity shop, meditation classes and natural medicine consultations, and part of the profits from the Pituq Waroeng restaurant are donated to support the charity. The Foundation was officially established as an NGO in April 2018.
Rahmat’s wife Jaana is the executive coordinator of the Foundation, and together they work hard to make a notable difference to the wellbeing of the community and the planet. They first met at a meditation course years ago and we think they make a very powerful (and very sweet) couple!
When walking through the village with them, we noticed they were stopped every few minutes by someone offering a friendly greeting. It was clear to see they are well known and appreciated in the community.
Rahmat initiated the eco-bricks project, which repurposes plastic bottles filled with clean, dry plastic waste as bricks. So far, over 10,500 bricks have been made, which total more than 250 tonnes of plastic waste. These bricks have already been used to build a classroom wall and bathroom facilities in one earthquake-resistant school in East Lombok.
During the pandemic, the Foundation distributed care packages containing masks, food and hygiene supplies to more than 400 families in rural areas.
Impact Berry has been partnering with Pituq Community Foundation for several years, donating a share of our profits, which has funded the supply of clean drinking water over 2000 people through the distribution of locally made water filters.
We are very proud to partner with Rahmat and Jaana and contribute to their incredible work through our own social enterprise.