“I don’t want to go back to my dark past, I want to make my family pleased.”

Mr. Gusti Darmawan (30 years old) has determined not to go back to his dark experience in the past, he wants to change his life for the better. Mr. Gusti Darmawan or commonly called Mr. Gusti is a prisoner of the Class I Beureau Correction (BAPAS) of Central Jakarta.

He is one of the alumni of batch 2 barbershop social entrepreneurship training in the year of 2020 organized by Yayasan Inspirasi Indonesia Membangun / The Foundation for Inspiration of Indonesia Development (YIIM) in cooperation with Insight Investments Management Company (called INSIGHT).

This program is one of YIIM’s flagship programs which aims to prosper the underprivileged community and help the community to become an independent by developing their own businesses for micro and small scale entrepreneur.

Mr. Gusti was born in Menteng, Central Jakarta. He is the eldest of two siblings. His last education was Junior High School.

Mr. Gusti has three children. The first child is currently in 5th grade of the elementry school, the second child is currently entering early childhood education programs (PAUD), and the last is currently three years old.

Involved in Drug Cases

In the year of 2005, when he was in junior high school, he stumbled upon a narcotics abuse legal case. This happened because he was influenced by the neighbourhood which is rough and also promiscuity and eventually he was sentenced to a minor and took a package of education in a juvenile prison.

After three years, he was finally released. Then, this case re-happened in the year of 2010. He was arrested for a second time by reason of a similar case, same as before. In the end, he entered the prison. In the same year after 4 years, he was finally released from prison.

In the year of 2017, he did not have job and any occupation. In addition, at the previous prison, he knew several people who were drug dealers. This made him re-entangled into using drugs. And finally he was arrested for a third time, and was released in 2020.

After being arrested in the prison for a third time, Mr. Gusti felt he had to change. He doesn’t want to go back to his dark days and wants to start a new life to make his little family happy.

His determination to change his life

Before Mr. Gusti was released from prison, he also looked for various activities to practice his abilities so these abilities could be used in order to find job. When there was a program held by BAPAS and YIIM, he was also interested in participating in the training. Because he wanted to fill in activities before he was released from prison. He also choose to take part in barber training. After attending the training, he had the opportunity to take part in the YIIM internship in February 2020. This opportunity is very valuable for him, because with this opportunity he can develop his abilities and also his career when he released from prison.

He started his career by participating in an internship at Barber Inspirasi under the auspices of YIIM located in Beji, Depok and then continued in Rawa Belong, West Jakarta and being rotated once a week.

After a year in Rawa Belong, he moved to a YIIM barbershop located at the YIIM Office in the Gran Wijaya Ruko Complex for 3 months. After 3 months at YIIM’s barbershop, he has returned to Rawa Belong for 6 months now.

Mr. Gusti’s career is on progress. He has been an Assistant Barber at Barbershop Inspirasi and was trusted to be a mentor for barber training and internships carried out by YIIM with partners. He also actively participates in social activities held by YIIM. At the same time, Mr. Gusti has also been a mobile barber using D’Kapster application for a month.

Mr. Gusti has also increased his time as a prisoner, because he wants to continue to learn and improve his abilities. He finally learned to be a content creator because it has something to do with his field of barbering.

Hard Worker to help family

Mr. Gusti received every month income around IDR 2,000,000. Currently, the income he has received was used to prioritize the interests of his family, such as paying house rent, his wife’s trading capital, paying off motorbike instalments, and transportation costs.

Mr. Gusti has to get a motorbike loan for his family’s needs. He felt guilty for his wife because she always used a neighbours’ motorbike to go to the market and take the children to school. He tried many ways to afford a motorbike. At that time, YIIM lent money for him to buy a motorbike. Even though he bought a second-hand motorbike, that was not a problem for him. When applying for a loan, YIIM agreed on the condition that the motorbike must have complete documents and the motorbike is in good condition. Eventually Mr. Gusti was looking for motorbike and he found. He finally bought the motorbike at a price of IDR. 3,000,000.

Mr. Gusti’s expenses do not over that simple. He has to pay a house rent of IDR. 500,000 per month. The house is inhabited with four people besides his own family, namely the family of his wife. He is not paying a rent by himself, four other families also participate in paying the rent for one month.

Currently, the government is helping their children’s education. Tuition for their children’s is free and is also supported by the Jakarta Smart Card (KJP). This KJP is used by him for the needs of his children in education such as buying books, uniforms and stationery.

His wife also helps increase income by selling culinary products that have been selling since 2017. She sells various side dishes such as grilled chicken and pecel lele. The capital to run this business comes from Mr. Gusti’s income. His wife received the income around IDR. 100,000. The income is used for daily household needs such as children’s snacks, breakfast and family meals, and Mr. Gusti’s transportation expenses.

In the future, he expects to raise capital to start his own barber business, although there are still doubts. He wants to make his family satisfy by being able to provide for his family, have savings, and take the children on vacation.

For those of you who want to try Mr. Gusti’s shave, you can come to the Barbershop Inspirasi at Bumi Indah Street Number. 23 RT 08/ RW 09, North Sukabumi, Kebon Jeruk district, West Jakarta City, DKI Jakarta.

Inspiration greetings!