Get your Mule Jewels at ARMA and support the prisoners of Kerobokan…

I finally got my bracelet back from Kerobokan Prison and the guys on the silversmith program did an awesome job! I asked them to make me a gecko like the one who used to live behind the painting in my old villa and I think they captured him quite perfectly… although the real ‘Monet’ didn’t have quite so many holes in him. You too can get your piece of prison-chic at the BaliSpirit Festival.

Mule Jewels will be for sale at the Night Market night music shows (Arma Musuem, Ubud) Friday March 30th until Sunday April 1st (space generously donated by Meghan Pappenheim). Head down and support the rehabilitation program at Kerobokan Prison and catch some of the amazing music while you’re at it. All proceeds go back into the program and thus help these guys to have a better time of things behind bars. They use the money to buy nice food so they don’t have to eat the nasty stuff they’re served (think of that as you tuck into your yummy Ubud specials!)

The Mule Jewels line of jewelry is all crafted inside Kerobokan Prison and the program currently gives eight prisoners the chance to work full time jobs and hone a whole new set of skills as they serve their sentences. I went along a while back with the lovely lady who runs the program, Joanna Witt, who started the venture in 2010. It’s really amazing what they do all day, and how much confidence they’re building from doing something so creative and constructive.

Si Yi (who’s in Kerobokan Prison because of his part in the Bali 9 drug ring) practices Taoism and as such, every piece he makes has a very specific meaning behind it. It is his aim to continue as a silversmith when he gets out of prison, which I think you’d agree, having seen this gorgeous bracelet, would be a brilliant move for him!

Oh and you can read more about my time in the prison and with the lovely Joanna and Si Yi (and Monet the gecko) in my book ‘Balilicious – The Bali Diaries’, in October… if you like 😉

Written by : Becky Wicks