Former addicts craft wooden eye wear from recycled materials

Thu, September 22, 2016 / 01:35 pm

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A craftsman draws a pattern for a frame on a piece of wood in a home workshop in Bandungrejo, Malang, in East Java. The frames are made by former drug addicts using wood recycled from used furniture. JP/Aman Rochman
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A man cuts a piece of wood following a drawn pattern in a home workshop in Malang East, Java, on Aug. 15. The frames are sold online and the buyers come from Jakarta, Surabaya and even the US and Italy. JP/Aman Rochman
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Fendi, 28, works on a wooden frame in a home workshop in Malang, East Java, on Aug. 15. The frames, made from recycled Indian rosewood and teak, are sold for between Rp 400,000 (US$30) and Rp 500,000. JP/Aman Rochman
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Unfinished frames are arranged on a table at a home workshop in Bandungrejo, Malang, East Java, on Aug. 15. The frames are made in a workshop founded by Mario Bannet, a former drug addict, in cooperation with the Sadar Hati Foundation. JP/Aman Rochman
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A worker makes a lens hood on a timber frame at a home workshop in Bandungrejo, Malang, East Java, on Aug. 15. JP/Aman Rochman
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Besides using recycled wood, the design uses recycled chains for the frame’s hinges. The frame prices start at Rp 400,000 [US$30]. JP/Aman Rochman
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The workers making the wooden frames are former drug addicts and convicts recruited by Mario Bannet, who is himself a former drug addict. JP/Aman Rochman
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Mario Bannet, 32, shows several eye wear frames made by his friends at his workshop in Malang, East Java, on Aug. 15. JP/Aman Rochman
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The frames are sold online through social media and the buyers come from not only Jakarta and neighboring Surabaya, but also from the UK, the US and Italy. JP/Aman Rochman

Amid the sound of power saws, mixed with a dangdut music coming from a cell phone, capable hands, some tattooed, cut wooden boards into eye wear frames.

Former drug addict Mario Bannet, in cooperation with the Sadar Hati Foundation, invited other former addicts and convicts to work at a workshop to produce wooden eye wear frames, which are marketed not only in Indonesia but also abroad.

The home industry in Bandungrejo in Malang, East Java, produces about 50 frames per month, with various models tagged at Rp 400,000 [US$30] to Rp 500,000. The frames are sold in Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali, as well as in the US, the UK and Italy.

The artisans create the frames from sonokeling [Indian rosewood] and teak recycled from used furniture.

Although they are former addicts, the artisans seem to want to keep a piece of their old life in their work by naming each frame design after a drug type: dark heroin, putau [a local name for heroin] and magadon [pills].

Mario chose an online platform to sell their products and the profits go to Sadar Hati, which will allot some of the profits for facilitate the rehabilitation of more drug addicts.

Lately, Mario has not only helped addicts, but also unemployed young people and street musicians who want to change their lives. [evi]