Many expats come to Bali and make good lives here. Some find mates and build families. Some create successful businesses. Often they do both. Many of these people are deeply grateful for all the gifts Bali has given them, and find ways to give back.
Canadian-born Indonesian Joanna Witt is just such a person. She and her husband Ketut have a thriving silver business and Joanna has found a unique way to give back to Bali. She’s designed special sterling silver pendants for sale at her three Ubud shops. Each time one of these pendants is sold, Rp 20,000 (about $2) is set aside for one of three Bali causes which are close to her heart. The first is Bumi Sehat, a natural birthing clinic in Nyuh Kuning that provides free midwifery services and breastfeeding support to poor mothers. Another is to contribute toward scholarships for Balinese children to attend bilingual Pelangi School. The third, a project started earlier this year, brings hope and initiative behind prison walls.
Early this year, Joanna learned that Si Yi Jimmy Chen, one of the Australian Bali Nine in Kerobokan Jail for drug-running, was interested in private silversmithing classes. She made an appointment and went to meet him with Nyoman, her head silversmith for 10 years. Their initial meeting with Si Yi was on the bare tile floor of the unfurnished visiting area. “I didn’t know what to expect,” remembers Joanna. “I found an old soul in a young man’s body. He’s a good guy, a smart guy who’d made a huge mistake.” Si Yi knew he needed stimulation and something to keep him focused. They talked about the costs involved in setting up a project, which would be covered by his parents in Australia.
Next Joanna met the guards in charge of the prison workshop, which has its own security system. Although the proposed silversmithing project would require hammers, saws, scissors and a gas torch, the guards did not object.
“I’ve lived in Bali on and off for 18 years so I was expecting the process of obtaining permission for the project to be very bureaucratic,” says Joanna. “But Pak Siswanto, the head of Kerobokan jail, is very progressive. He encourages the inmates to acquire skills so they won’t return to crime after release. He was very interested and easy to deal with. He likes projects that create ties between the jail and community, which provide an activity and motivation to engage the prisoners.” Another of the Bali Nine inmates sponsors a computer class, a T-shirt printing business and English lessons for other inmates.
The project started on February 14, which was not only Valentine’s Day but also Chinese Lunar New Year, a very auspicious date for the Chinese-born Si Yi. Ironically, it was not easy to find five other men who were interested in learning this new skill. It took about three months for the project to shake down and for Si Yi and a rotating group of other inmates to find their commitment to the new routine. Several were released, others found it hard to sustain interest. Si Yi now provides snacks as an incentive. Nyoman, a bright master silversmith and entrepreneur who enjoys a challenge and takes law classes on the side, visited twice a week to keep the young men on track and teach them the skills they needed to produce commercial jewellery. Joanna goes in every 2 weeks to help with design and pricing, and to collect finished items to sell in her shops.
Joanna and Si Yi designed three items together which Joanna produces with her own smiths; these are the pieces that generate Rp 20,000 each to help buy more silver for the project. The group designs and makes another collection of items in the jail workshop which Joanna also sells through her shops. All the revenue from these items is returned to the project to pay the silversmiths, buy more silver and repay a loan to Joanna for a rolling machine and other equipment (she donated stones, a lockable filing cabinet and other equipment to the project). Si Yi is very conscious of Joanna’s help and is determined to be independent. He’s steadily repaying the loan from the income he makes, and is excited when his jewellery sells well.
Joanna didn’t really think about the therapeutic effects of the project, but she has seen a remarkable change in his attitude. “In the beginning we’d get to the jail and he’d still be sleeping; he wouldn’t be in the workshop. After a slow start he was fully committed and moving ahead. Now he goes to the workshop every day, five days a week. He calls it going to work, and appreciates that he needs the routine. The other guys in the program also work a full day, and earn a higher percentage on their piecework than smiths outside. ”
The quality of work is very good. Nyoman, who is paid by Si Yi for his support, cut his visits to once a week when the team began to progress. Now he feels that Si Yi has ‘graduated’ and is able to work on his own, lead the silversmithing team and train the new members. Nyoman goes once a month now to troubleshoot. “Si Yi is doing an excellent job, both as a smith and as a teacher,” Joanna points out. “If he was outside, I’d hire him as a teacher for my Ubud workshops in a heartbeat. I enjoy seeing him go through the creative process. His designs -- many Taoist-inspired -- are thoughtful and his technical ability is expanding to keep up with his new work. I look forward to being his friend and mentor in the years to come.” Hopefully his successful silversmithing project and enthusiastic attitude will help earn Si Yi a reduction in his life sentence. In his spare time he studies Chinese, Taoism and Tai Chi.
“The program has changed my life dramatically,” says Si Yi. “I was always interested in design and took courses in high school, but never had a chance to work as a designer. My study of Taosim has been very helpful, too. I’ve wasted so many precious years, but now that I’ve learned about Pure Calm and applied it to my life I’m able to be focused with my work and teach silversmithing to other inmates, as well as help them with their problems.”
Joanna’s concept, which she invites other expat business people to embrace, is what she calls grassroots fundraising. “When I first heard about the possibility of doing a project in Kerobokan Jail I thought, wow, what a great opportunity to pass on skills in a meaningful and valuable way, to give something back that’s really useful. I believe in the act of giving and not expecting any return. Bali has given me a lot, and I feel it’s time to start giving back more.”
Since beginning her personal grassroots fundraising crusade a few years ago, she’s been able to make regular donations to Bumi Sehat and has raised 40 million rupiah for the Pelangi School scholarship program. “Just think what a difference it would make if more small businesses donated a little to their favourite local charities on a regular basis,” she says. “I tack on Rp 20,000 to the cost of these items, and tourists are happy to support these programs. Some of these pieces are best sellers, so it’s a great marketing technique.” One best-selling pendant is a Karmic circle -- what goes around comes around. Some of Si Yi’s pieces use the old Chinese characters for freedom, happiness and other inspiring words.
You can purchase Si Yi’s pieces at the three turquoise-hued Studio Perak outlets in Ubud. The project still needs tools, and always needs more silver. Donations are welcome. Contact Joanna at www.studioperak.com or leave a donation at any of the shops. Si Yi would also appreciate any books on Taosim, especially in Chinese.
Dragons in the Bath, a collection of Ibu Kat’s stories, it is available at Ganesha Books in Ubud and at Biku in Seminyak, and at Periplus bookstores in Bali. It can be ordered nationally and internationally through www.dragonsinthebath.com <http://www.dragonsinthebath.com>
