Blindness not dead end for Eka Setyawan<\/p>\n
By Primastuti Handayani<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Being blind represent a dead end for many
\npeople, but it hasn't discouraged one student of the Teachers
\nTraining Institute in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Eka Setyawan, a 24-year-old student of the institute's special
\nprogram for the physically handicapped, has been blind since the
\nage of eight months.<\/p>\n
\"I was so shocked when the doctor told me that there was
\nnothing he could do to save his eyes,\" said Eka's mother,
\nMariani.<\/p>\n
\"We sought treatment, both modern and traditional, for 15
\nmonths,\" she added.<\/p>\n
\"Finally our son asked us to stop taking him for further
\ntreatments,\" said Eka's father, Husin.<\/p>\n
According to Mariani, Eka insisted on pursuing a tertiary
\neducation after finishing high school.<\/p>\n
\"Eka refused to be a masseur like other blind people,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"'Being a masseur is the last thing I want to be,'\" she quoted
\nher son as saying. \"If all blind men only end up as masseurs,
\nwhen will we be able to improve our lives?\" Eka asked at the
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Eka, who plays the drums, the guitar and the flute, said he
\nwas proud to have been admitted to a state university.<\/p>\n
\"Actually I didn't expect to do too well in the admission test
\nbecause I was not well prepared for it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The most difficult part in the admission test for me was
\nmathematics, especially geometry,\" Eka said. \"I can't imagine
\ngeometrical figures and curves so I answered only 10 out of 30
\nquestions,\" he added.<\/p>\n
He had studied at boarding schools from an early age, before
\nentering a special state high school for the blind (handicapped
\n\"Type A\") in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I took the special education for the handicapped because I
\nwanted to do something for them, especially for the blind,\" Eka
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
However, becoming a teacher for handicapped children is one of
\nEka's dreams that may not come true.<\/p>\n
\"I don't expect too much, because of my blindness,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Eka hopes to finish his studies at the beginning of 1997.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest difficulties, he said, is that few
\ntextbooks are in Braille.<\/p>\n
\"I have to transcribe my textbooks into Braille characters or
\nhave them read onto cassettes, which is obviously not cheap,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
An ordinary 300-page book is three or four times thicker in
\nBraille. It would fill 24 audio cassettes.<\/p>\n
The eldest of five children, Eka said that taking part in
\nsocial activities increases his confidence and courage.<\/p>\n
He takes part in student organization activities on campus and
\nis a member of the Indonesian Association of Blind People
\n(Pertuni) as well as the Mitra Netra Foundation, a foundation
\nwhich provides services for the blind.<\/p>\n
\"In Pertuni, I am in charge of the education and youth
\ndepartment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"I am also active at Netra magazine, a journal which is
\npublished in ordinary alphabetical characters by the Mitra Netra
\nFoundation,\" he said. As a member of the magazine's editorial
\nteam, Eka has to do a lot of typing.<\/p>\n
Eka notes that most blind people are not as lucky as he has
\nbeen, most of them working as masseurs or, sometimes, begging for
\na living.<\/p>\n
The fact that the blind are largely limited to those
\nactivities has created an image problem for them, Eka said,
\nmaking interaction with the rest of society difficult.<\/p>\n
He said that, for example, most bus drivers try to avoid
\ncarrying blind passengers.<\/p>\n
\"I think they are afraid we will be a burden to them or won't
\npay for the ride,\" he said. \"Even taxi drivers don't like us to
\nbe their passengers.\"<\/p>\n
Eka said he hoped that in January next year Pertuni will be
\nable to hold seminars and meetings in conjunction with a
\ncommemoration of Louise Braille, the inventor of Braille script.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/blindness-not-dead-end-for-eka-setyawan-1447893297",
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