Empowering the Poor Based on Local Culture through Leather Puppet Making Kepuhsari Village

Abstract

This study aims to describe the process of community empowerment based on local culture
through the manufacture of wayang kulit, the success of empowerment, as well as the supporting
and inhibiting factors in the implementation of empowerment. This study uses a qualitative
approach with 8 research subjects, 1 from the village government, 2 people from Pokdarwis, 1
community leader, and 4 puppet craftsmen. Data collection techniques through. observation,
interviews, and documentation. The validity of the data using triangulation. Data analysis
techniques used are data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions.
The results showed that: 1) Community empowerment was carried out through three stages,
namely the awareness stage, the transformation stage, and the enrichment stage. The awareness
stage is carried out through socialization activities. The transformation stage is marked by
changes in community skills. The enrichment stage is marked by innovations made by the
community. 2) The success of empowerment includes economic success, namely the existence of
entrepreneurial abilities. Social success is the ability to build relationships with people. The
success of culture is the existence of efforts to preserve culture by the community. 3) Factors that
affect the implementation of empowerment consist of supporting factors, namely the support,
participation, and willingness of the community to meet needs. The inhibiting factors are the
delay in the supply of raw materials, the difficulty of changing the mindset of some people, and
the lack of the next generation of wayang kulit makers.