Wanakerta women fluff their way for a living<\/p>\n
By Agus Maryono and Ngudi Utomo<\/p>\n
PURBALINGGA, Central Java (JP): The woman and her two teenage
\nchildren could not stop sneezing as heaps of kapok floated in the
\nair around them. Even the afternoon downpour did not dampen their
\nworking spirit. With the silky fibers of kapok flying all around
\nthem and settling onto their bodies, they kept stuffing kapok
\ninto a large cloth bag to make a mattress.<\/p>\n
Rasni, 40, is one of the women working in a mattress-making
\ncenter in Wanakerta hamlet in Banjarkerta village of Purbalingga
\ndistrict. Almost all of the women in Wanakerta, which has a
\npopulation of some 350 families or about 1,200 people, work as
\nmattress-makers. Usually they get help from their children. When
\nthe mattresses are ready, it is the men's job to sell them in
\nother towns. They may be away for weeks selling mattresses.<\/p>\n
Before the crisis began in July last year, they made good
\nmoney. As evidence of this success, many houses in this hamlet
\nhave ceramic floors and are equipped with expensive electronic
\ngadgets. Now business is sluggish. Some people have given up the
\nbusiness and turned their hand to selling spring beds, which they
\nusually buy in Tegal, Central Java. Some try their luck at
\nfinding work in nearby towns, while others remain in the business
\nbecause they have no other alternative to earn a living.<\/p>\n
"What else can I do for a living? Those working in the city
\nhave now returned to their village," Rasni told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Since 1978, Wanakerta residents have been making mattresses in
\na very traditional way. To make one mattress they need stuffing,
\nmattress cloth and thread. There are two kinds of stuffing with
\nwhich they are familiar: kapok and a fibrous yarn called benglon
\nwhich is made from textile factory waste. The products have a
\ngood market not only in Purbalingga but also in other urban
\ncenters like Surakarta, Tasikmalaya and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The mattress-making business in Wanakerta was pioneered by
\nMahwari, 50, and the late Rasmadi. Before trying their hand at
\nmattress-making, they sold agricultural products in a number of
\nareas in Java. When they were at a textile mill in Bandung, West
\nJava, they saw heaps of textile waste, the kapok-like polyester
\nbenglon fibers.<\/p>\n
"It struck me that these fibers could be utilized to make a
\nmattress," said Mahwari.<\/p>\n
Back home, he and his wife used the benglon he bought in
\nBandung to make a mattress. "I bought 200 kilos of benglon just
\nto experiment in making mattresses. A kilo cost Rp 300," said
\nMahwari. First he found buyers for his mattresses among his
\nneighbors, but then orders started coming in from people in other
\nareas. His success prompted his neighbors to follow his example.<\/p>\n
Now Mahwari supplies benglon to all mattress-makers in his
\nhamlet. "I am not strong enough to sell mattresses and at the
\nsame time supply the raw materials."<\/p>\n
The process of making a mattress in a traditional way is
\nsimple. "Before it is put into a cloth bag, the kapok or benglon
\nmust first be put in the sunlight so that it will expand," said
\nRasni.<\/p>\n
Then it is put into a cloth bag the size of a mattress. The
\nbag is sewn up with mattress thread.<\/p>\n
"When the mattress is ready, it will be again put in the
\nsunlight so that it will expand further," she added.<\/p>\n
Because of the crisis, the prices of all raw materials have
\nincreased by over 100 percent.<\/p>\n
"Before the crisis, one piece of mattress cloth (35 meters)
\ncost Rp 35,000 but now it costs Rp 100,000," said Nuryadi, 44,
\nanother mattress-maker.<\/p>\n
The price of thread has also gone up from Rp 500 per roll the
\nsize of a tennis ball to Rp 1,500. Kapok has increased in price
\nfrom Rp 40,000\/100 kg to Rp 70,000\/100 kg while benglon has risen
\nin price from Rp 50,000\/100 kg to Rp 200,000\/100 kg.<\/p>\n
To make a single mattress, nine meters of mattress cloth is
\nneeded, 20 kg of kapok or 25 kg of benglon and two rolls of
\nthread. One mattress sells at an average price of Rp 90,000.<\/p>\n
"The net profit from one mattress is only Rp 5,000," said
\nNuryadi.<\/p>\n
He makes only an average of 10 mattresses a day now compared
\nto 30 mattresses a day before the crisis.<\/p>\n
He has also had to reduce his employees from 15 to five
\nbecause he cannot afford to pay them.<\/p>\n
Respiratory<\/p>\n
The employees are paid according to how much work they do. For
\nstuffing a mattress, one gets Rp 1,000 per mattress, someone who
\ndoes the sewing also earns Rp 1,000 per mattress, according to
\nRasni.<\/p>\n
"Not bad. I can buy ingredients for meals," said Sikas, 15, an
\nelementary school dropout working for Rasni. She stuffs mattress
\nbags and can make 10 mattresses a day. "If you do the sewing you
\ncan sew 15 mattresses a day," she said.<\/p>\n
Respiratory<\/p>\n
The mattress-makers handle heaps of kapok and benglon every
\nday and do not wear protective masks, leaving them vulnerable to
\nhealth problems. The biggest risk they run is when they unpack
\nthe stuffing, put it in the sunlight and fill the mattress bags.<\/p>\n
"We are used to this condition," said Rasni, who has stuffed
\nmattresses for over 10 years.<\/p>\n
"We'll be all right, even without protective masks. The worst
\nthing that can happen to us that we could get a cough," she said,
\nwithout the slightest idea that a cough could be a symptom of
\nrespiratory trouble.<\/p>\n
"Sometimes we see a doctor at the community health center
\nbecause we cough too often. Is this because of kapok?" she
\ninquired.<\/p>\n
Rasni and other mattress-makers do not realize that their
\ncoughs are caused by pollution. Every day, for hours on end, they
\ninhale air mixed with fiber particles and kapok.<\/p>\n
"Now, if I don't put on a mask to cover my nose, I often
\nsneeze and cough," said Wasirah, 47, another worker.<\/p>\n
An interesting feature to observe among the lives of mattress-
\nmakers in Wanakerta is that the hamlet is dubbed a hamlet of
\nseasonal widows. Why? Often about 80 percent of the population in
\nWanakerta is made up only of women because the men are frequently
\naway for a month or two to sell the mattresses.<\/p>\n
"Our husbands are often away for a long time. Anyway, we are
\nused to this condition and we have a lot of friends," said
\nDarsinah, 30, a mother of two. Her husband has been in
\nTasikmalaya for two months.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wanakerta-women-fluff-their-way-for-a-living-1447893297",
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