Financial Independence

Asroel’s Story

Early Childhood

Asroel was born in Jember, East Java, in 1979, the fourth child following three older sisters. The family had followed the advice of the village priest and made special offerings and held ceremonies to ask that they have a son. His mother, during the pregnancy, had been working very hard and suffered numbness in her left arm, left leg and right arm. When Asroel was born, it was without his left arm, left leg and most of his right arm.

His earliest memory is of being left by his sister to be stung by a hive of bees. Another time he was trampled by a herd of sheep. Until he was five or six, he could not move about on his own, which meant he had to be carried or pulled around on his backside. However, he was clever in school and the headmaster was able to see his abilities. Asroel was ashamed of not being able to walk and went into a coffee plantation where he practiced standing by sliding up the trunk of a coffee tree. The trunk became quite smooth before he was able to stand. From that time on he was able to hop around on his one foot. This was the beginning of his path to self-confidence.

While his parents dearly loved him, they treated him as non-handicapped, and expected Asroel to help his father as much as he could when he went into the forest to collect firewood or perform other chores. With his father’s support, Asroel attended high school in Panggul, East Java. He had to leave home at 4:30am as there was no regular public transport between his home and his school. He did well in art and had an interest in history. He wrote and drew with his right foot.

Yogyakarta

After finishing school in 1997, he wished to escape the plantation work in his village and decided to go to Yogyakarta to try his luck there. He spent the first year as a parking attendant, and in the evenings started to make and sell American Indian accessories. Later he started to do portraits and Islamic calligraphy. He made a living in Yogyakarta this way for some years. During this time, he often slept on the street with friends and had to learn to stand up for his rights, sometimes physically fighting. He met a wide variety of people this way, ranging from street kids to wealthy people.

It was while he was in Yogyakarta that he met his wife-to-be, a language student at university. Unfortunately, her family did not approve of their relationship, and made her return home to Kalimantan (Borneo). After several years, however, still determined to marry Asroel, she made her way back to Yogyakarta. The pair was married in 2006, and they decided that it was time to leave Yogyakarta and try to concentrate on making a living from Asroel’s art in Bali.

The Move to Bali

Asroel focused on painting Portraits of Peacemakers as a way to contribute to solving the problems of misunderstanding that were appearing in Bali between Hindus and Muslims, especially after the Bali Bombings. He has also become a member of the Senang Hati Foundation for people with disabilities, where he has made good friends and helps other members learn how to paint.

Footprints, Paintings by Asroel, an exhibition in Ubud

An exhibition and sale of Asroel’s art, co-sponsored by Dragonfly Restaurant and the Senang Hati Foundation was held from September 22 to October 21, 2006 at Dragonfly in Ubud. Opening festivities were from 5:00 - 7:00pm on September 22.

Read Dr. Rob’s review from the Bali Advertiser.