Joy of Laughter from \'Artists Workshop\'

Kompas/Dahlia Irawati

The Cangkir Cukur community from Kepanjen, Malang regency, East Java, Friday (17/11) gives free haircuts to Rohman (left) and Rohim (right), who live with mental disorders, at Artist Workshop in Srigonco village, Bantur district, Malang regency. Artist Workshop is a place for people with mental disorders in areas around Bantur Puskesmas to gather and carry out activities together.

A group of people in Malang regency, East Java, provided a simple answer to the question of happiness: They are happy as long as they can laugh together. It all started with the work of Soebagijono, a nurse who was shocked by a heartbreaking incident six years ago.

Joyful laughter filled a meeting on Friday (17/11) at the Artists Workshop in Bantur village, Bantur district, Malang. That was the day a monthly meeting was being held at the venue, around 45 minutes south of downtown Malang.

Dozens of people with mental disorders had gathered there, coming from five villages around the Bantur community health center (puskesmas). The villagers arrived from Srigonco, Bandungrejo, Sumberbening, Bantur and Wonorejo to participate in a group therapy sessions, as well as to welcome several guests.

Agus, a resident of Sumberbening village who lives with a mental disorder, sang cheerfully while strumming a guitar. He was entertaining everyone at the workshop. Twins Rohman and Rohim, 30, from Batu Tengah sub-village, went to the back of the workshop to have their hair cut. “I want it shaved, it’s okay. As long as it looks cool,” Rohman said.

That day, the Cangkir Cukur community (a barber community from Kepanjen, Malang) was visiting the Artists Workshop. They had come to give free haircuts to people living with mental disorders. “Incidentally, I’m from Bantur. That’s why I want to do something for my village,” said barber Anggi Bagus Wijaya.

The Artists Workshop, or Bengkel Artis, derives its name from its aim to be a cre(a)tive, inspi(r)ational, innova(t)ive and (s)upportive workshop for the people living with mental disorders it treats. The workshop invites people with mental disorders to gather together to sing, play and sometimes make handcrafts. The handcrafts they produce, such as tissue boxes, artificial flowers and other products, are sold to help pay for their health treatment.

The Artists Workshop was founded in 2015 by Soebagijono, 49, a nurse at the Bantur Puskesmas. Its activities are funded by donations from a community of Bantur migrant workers who work overseas, and occasionally by the state’s healthcare operational assistance fund.

Bound woman

Soebagijono’s story starts in 2011, when the Bantur Puskesmas was facing a dengue outbreak. He and his team went into the field to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds. At one house, Soebagijono heard a woman shouting. She was cursing and asking for food.

Curious, Soebagijono peeked inside and found a woman in her 30s, naked and locked in. The woman was demanding food and was in rage. Her hand went through a wooden wall as she tried to grab some leaves. She succeeded in getting one, and used it as a receptacle to defecate in.

Soebagijono found it hard to sleep for two days after seeing the heartbreaking sight. Since then, he has dedicated his life to caring for people living with mental disorders who had been locked up.

House to house

In 2011, Soebagijono asked healthcare representatives to go from house to house gathering data, searching for people with mental disorders. They found 24 people living with mental disorders and four who had been locked up. At the time, this data was not recorded in any health profile. The number of people with mental disorders continued to grow every year, reaching a total of 212 people in 2015.

From a direct survey, it was found that people with mental disorders are usually treated at a hospital, go home, recover and suffer a relapse. This kept repeating. Soebagijono believed that the patients’ families and society are the source of stress, which causes people with mental disorders to suffer relapses.

“I asked families and society to be a part of the recovery process. Not to isolate them and continue giving people with mental disorders the opportunity for productive activities,” he said.

Soebagijono is helped in his work by five to seven mental health workers in each village. These healthcare workers usually care for toddlers or the elderly, or work for the village’s Family Planning program. They assist people with mental disorders at an integrated health service post (posyandu) that is set up once a month in every village. Moreover, there are dozens of such healthcare workers. Currently, there are 210 mental health workers in the areas around the Bantur Puskesmas.

“I am happy to be of help to other people, even though Pak Bagyo said from the beginning that there is no money in this,” said Yamini, 55, a mental health worker from Srigonco village.

Yamini said that being a mental health worker made him more attentive to the people around him. When he sees a neighbor acting strangely, he would ask after the person and ask their family’s permission for them take part in the activities for people with mental disorders.

“Not all families agree. They sometimes hide it and even warn us not to approach their family member who is suffering from a mental disorder,” said Yatiyem, 56, another mental health worker.

Both Yamini and Yatiyem realize that patience is necessary when managing people with mental disorders. Sometimes they needed to bathe their patients, and chase after them when they ran away. “We are graduates of ITB, which is ikhlas tanpa batas (sincerity without limits). We take care of our brothers and sisters with mental disorders with the provision of KMS, that is, kartu menuju surga (card to heaven),” Yamini said, followed by laughter from Yatiyem.

The people with mental disorders the Bantur Puskesmas treats range from light to serious cases (schizophrenia). The first case Soebagijono handled was a person who had been locked up in a house for 21 years. The patient experienced a breakdown after she came home from her overseas job as a migrant worker and found out that all of the money she had sent home was gone.

When he met her in 2011, Soebagijono tried to convince the family that the woman could recover. They were taught to accept her condition and how to look after her, while continuing to give her medicines that were obtained through Soebagijono’s younger brother, who worked at the Lawang Mental Hospital (RSJ). In less than a year, the woman had recovered. The woman, who is now a mother, sells brooms to occupy her time.

The hard work of Soebagijono and hundreds of mental health workers in Bantur has borne fruit. From the initial 212 people with mental disorders, only 196 now remain. The others have either recovered or passed away.

Furthermore, the villages have become aware of treating people with mental disorders. In 2017, five villages around the Bantur Puskesmas allocated their village funds to support the mental health integrated post. Villages beyond Bantur have adopted its mental disorder treatment program.

One of Soebagijono’s hopes is to have a psychiatrist. The puskesmas only has general practitioners who are assisted by specialists from Lawang Mental Hospital and Menur Surabaya Mental Hospital. It is they that prescribe the medicines that are usually provided by the Malang Health Agency.

“If we had our own psychiatrist in the puskesmas every day, it would be easier to provide consultations and get medicines,” Soebagijono said.