On 1 August Pekerti Foundation was honored to welcome Marilyn Price from buyer Ten Thousand Villages Canada, an organisation which has cooperated with Pekerti for more than 20 years. Ten Thousand Villages Canada, which has been in force since 1968, sent Ms Price to work with Pekerti in Product Development and to discuss business plans.

Ms Price’s visit began with a trip to the National Museum, National Monument and a craft shopping center to view current trends in handicrafts in Indonesia. Ms Price went to Sumedang on 2 August to learn more about the skills and production processes used by one of Pekerti’s artisans, Heru Firmansyah, and his group, Pramanik. Pramanik was chosen because this group regularly supplies products to Ten Thousand Villages Canada. In addition to seeing the production process Ms Price took the opportunity to talk with Mr Firmansyah and his group members.

On the last day of her visit Ms Price visited Pekerti’s office in Jakarta. There, she provided us with updated information about ‘Villages Canada’ and its activities. Pekerti also shared news regarding our community development activities. Product development, sales targets and market trends were also discussed. At the close of the meeting Ms Price was able to choose product samples from Pekerti’s storeroom.