Banyumas (Indonesia) (AFP)

From carburetor to influencers: Siswanto, a poor mechanic, converted to internet videos with such success that neighbors followed suit and their community became Indonesia's "YouTube village".

Very productive, he films himself constantly, at home, eating in a cafe, on his motorbike, to download more and more content on the site.

His story began four years ago when he struggled to make a living from his machine shop in Kasegeran, a small town on the island of Java that most Indonesians would find difficult to place on a map.

He was desperate for additional income to feed his family, but his odd jobs as a scrap metal dealer or a soybean farmer were not enough.

Siswanto dabbled in filming short humorous videos despite having a basic internet connection in Kasegeran after watching an Indonesian influencer on television who became rich thanks to his online videos.

"But no one was looking at them, so I stopped," the 38-year-old man, who like many Indonesians has only one name, told AFP.

He decided it wasn't for him, until one day he was looking for mechanic videos to help him fix a customer's motorcycle.

It was a revelation: he decided to design his own videos to just explain the basic repairs.

Pledging the mobile phone he shared with his pregnant wife, he got equipped and started filming non-stop.

- "Ghost hunts" -

"I was shaking and talking in gibberish," in the first videos, he recalls.

But in just a few years, Siswanto has reached an audience of over 2 million subscribers on YouTube.

Today he has a busy schedule and constantly publishes many videos filmed on a simple mobile with a tripod and a microphone.

We see him repairing motorcycles, gardening or fishing in a river in his region with its idyllic landscape, with the help of a small team for the assembly.

His business is booming, he says he earns up to 150 million rupees (8,800 euros) per month, which has not gone unnoticed in his city.

YouTuber Siswanto records a video, June 16, 2021 in Banyuwangi, Indonesia Arbi Anugerah AFP

Rumors quickly circulated, assuring that the mechanic had resorted to black magic to get rich, and some parents forbade their children to play with theirs.

"So we organized a local meeting and I explained how I made money on YouTube," says Siswanto.

"Most people had never heard of it."

He offered free lessons to prove his story, and inspired around 30 Kasegeran residents who in turn created their YouTube channels with hundreds of thousands of views.

Among them was Tirwan, a former street food vendor who earned some 50,000 rupees (3 euros) a day selling local dumplings called "cilok".

He now films himself cooking or shoots videos where he stages "ghost hunts" with great success in the archipelago where beliefs in supernatural forces are deeply rooted.

At first, "I was afraid to go to the cemetery during the day, so don't think about it at night," he recalls.

- A dream through hard work -

These YouTube revenues brought a faster connection to Kasegeran, which made it easier for children to access school online when Indonesia closed its schools last year for months in an attempt to contain the pandemic.

It also gave the village new pride.

Siswanto records a video for his YouTube channel, at his home in Banyuwangi, August 20, 2021 in Indonesia Arbi Anugerah AFP

"Kasegeran was the poorest village in the region, but now we can be at the level of the other villages", applauds the chef de quartier Saifuddin.

"It is also an inspiration for young people. They no longer use their mobile for unnecessary things. They can earn money."

However, the YouTubers of Kasegeran explain that their success did not happen by magic.

"If you have the will and work very hard, it's a dream that can come true," Siswanto insists.

"But we must persist".

© 2021 AFP