Spreading Love Through Eyewear

Dahlia Irawati

· 5 minutes read

"We love life, not because we are used to living. But because we are used to loving" ("Zarathustra", Friedrich Nietzsche). Perhaps this is the belief of Muhammad Theo Zainuri, 45, a social activist and eyewear entrepreneur in Malang, East Java. He consciously skipped an opportunity to get rich quick, for the sake of love (caring) for his friends.

Theo is the founder of the Sadar Hati Foundation, a foundation that works in assisting former drug addicts (some of whom are ODHA, people with HIV/AIDS) and ex-convicts in Malang City. He is also the founder of an eyewear, wristwatch and cutlery business named Sahawood. Sahawood stands for Sadar Hati Wood.

The man has been struggling in the world of drug addict advocacy since 2002. From his experience, Theo discovered that the stigma was entrenched in the community. As many as 80 percent of Sadar Hati members are former addicts and ex-convicts.

"The negative stigma is still attached to members of our community, even when our members have got a job. Usually the workplace will expel them when the management knows they are former drug addicts or prisoners," said Theo, last Friday (16/8/2019). This is what makes the former drug addicts and prisoners feel as if they have no future. So they tend to fall into the same case of drub abuse repeatedly.

Unwilling to just give up, Theo tried to create jobs for members of his community. Initially, he opened a small clothing business. The business was built in 2015, in collaboration with its network in Australia. Over time, an Australian friend suggested that Theo make wooden eyewear.

Theo began to gather his friends to talk about the idea of a wooden eyewear business.

Theo invited a number of ex-prisoner friends from Lowokwaru, Malang, who while in detention chose to take a wood skills class. However, they must be clean of drugs when recruited. Those who are still addicts cannot work well.

Armed with an eyeglass from a friend, Theo and some of his friends started trying to make prototype eyewear. The wood used is sonokeling wood (Dalbergia Latifolia). "We learned from YouTube because our knowledge is very limited," he said. After conducting various trials, an initial prototype of wooden eyewear finally finished after four months.

Although initially the wood eyeglasses made by Sahawood were only consumed by local customers, over time their products were accepted by their networks in Bali and the UK.

At present, there are three kinds of Sahawood products, namely wooden watches, wooden eyewear (reading glasses and sunglasses) and wooden cutlery. Sahawood\'s production capacity in a month is around 200 eyeglasses, 150 watches and 200 wooden spoons and forks. The selling price of eyeglasses ranges from Rp 575,000 to Rp 800,000 per piece, while the price of wooden watches is Rp 675,000 to Rp 750,000.

Every month, Sahawood can export an average of 200 eyeglasses abroad. Most other products are absorbed by the domestic market. Customers generally find Sahawood products from social media.

Limited capital

The limited capital made it so that the wooden eyewear business initially relied on grants from various competitions. The money was used to buy production equipment and materials. Luckily, one day they won a competition so that the money could be used to buy a laser woodcutting machine for Rp 99 million.

It\'s not easy to find craftsmen that meet our criteria.

The machine has a production capacity of up to 200 frames of glasses a day. However, there is an obstacle: finding workers is not easy. Starting initially with only three people, now the number of crafters of wooden eyeglasses is eight. "It\'s not easy to find craftsmen that meet our criteria," said Theo.

From the beginning, Theo had designed his business as a means to provide job opportunities for his friends, ex-convicts and former drug addicts. One obstacle in working with former addicts, according to him, is not being able to push the target too much. "Usually the most difficult thing is that they are again involved in drugs. We cannot tolerate this and we must dismiss them," he said. Those who get into taking drugs again cannot work optimally and can influence other friends.

In fact, if he was only business-oriented, Theo could easily find workers outside the community. With only a short briefing about the business and training, Theo was sure he could create a more agile and fixed workforce. But he never did it. Right from the start, he set up the wooden eyewear business to provide hope for those who have been trapped in the dark world of drugs.

"If you want to get rich quickly, yes, it is easiest to take workers from outside and train them. But that is not what I want. This is my collaboration with friends who want to be independent after being hit by drugs, "said Theo.

By involving ex-addicts and prisoners in working together, it is believed that this will give them the spirit of life and increase their confidence. Ria Anggraini, a counselor for drug addicts at the Sadar Hati Foundation, said that former prisoners and drug addicts who joined the activity showed major changes.

"There are some of them who want to get married. They have a feeling of self-confidence, enthusiasm and are open for conversation. So far, they tended to be introverted," said Ria.

Muhammad Theo ZainuriBorn: Sidoarjo, December 10, 1973

Organization: Founder and director of Sadar Hati Foundation

Job: CEO (founder) Sahawood

Editor:
naranasrullah

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