The wrinkled hands of Pak Sikap (70 years old) are still skilfully weaving thin strips of bamboo into lukah. He occasionally pulls the bamboo slats tighter, especially when making knots to tie the mouth of the lukah, the valve, the body of the lukah and the lid of the lukah. The lid will automatically close when a fish is trapped inside the lukah.

Lukah is a traditional fish trap still used by the Suku Anak Dalam (SAD) community to trap fish in swampy areas or shallow rivers around settlements. Usually several lukah are installed at several points, between rocks, water plants or around the mouth of a ditch. The use of lukah also reflects the SAD's harmonious relationship with nature, because with lukah, the fish caught are few in number but enough to fulfil their daily needs. They do not take more than they need, or in a way that damages the river ecosystem. This is part of the local wisdom of the Suku Anak Dalam culture. They believe that nature can provide its blessings if it can be managed properly.

Mr. Sikap has been making lukah for a long time. Besides being used for the needs of his children and grandchildren, he also often gets orders from neighbouring villagers. One lukah measuring one metre long with a diameter of 25-20 cm, takes 3 to 4 days of work from preparing materials to weaving. She usually sells one lukah for around Rp 80,000 to Rp 150,000, depending on the size of the lukah ordered.

In the past, his lukah were made from rattan, but nowadays rattan is increasingly difficult to obtain and expensive; so Mr. Sikap uses bamboo as the raw material for his lukahs.

"It is easier to make lukah with rattan, the results are smoother, stronger and more durable. But rattan is hard to come by now," he said. When he gets an order, Mr. Sikap usually takes a day off to the garden or forest. He will sit all day weaving, even continuing until midnight.

"Unfortunately, we don't have electricity yet, so it's hard to see the lukah weaving at night. If there is electricity, the order will be ready in two days!" he added.

Weaving is a local knowledge that has considerable potential to be developed in the SAD community. Besides Pak Sikap, there is Pak Bendung and several Induk who are also skilled in weaving products from various types of raw materials such as tassel, rattan and bamboo. Unfortunately, young people are less interested in this skill. If these skills are pursued, the community can produce a variety of handicraft products that can add economic value to them.

Therefore, with the support of the ESTUNGKARA Programme, Pundi Sumatra is also preparing a series of trainings for the group to improve the quality and diversification of products, so that they can connect their products with the market. Not only improving product quality and design, the group will also be invited to develop SOPs for product making, including jointly agreeing on the selling price so that the sustainability of the product and its benefits are also felt by this community.