Disabled in East Java struggle for inclusion
\n
\nIndra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
Koey Chen An rolled through the Rungkut housing complex in
\nSurabaya in his customized wheelchair, oblivious to the steady
\nrain that was falling as he delivered household cleaning products
\nto customers.<\/p>\n
Chen An, 38, who has been paralyzed since contracting polio at
\nthe age of three months, has customized his otherwise standard
\nwheelchair with a canopy to keep off the sun and rain, and a
\n\"trunk\" where he stores the bottles of cleaners he makes and
\nsells.<\/p>\n
No matter how many features he adds to his wheelchair,
\nhowever, it will never be a match for a car, as he has discovered
\non the several occasions he has been involved in traffic
\naccidents after being forced into the street because there is no
\nspecial lane for disabled people.<\/p>\n
\"I guess that is the risk of being disabled in Surabaya. But I
\nkept on and made my deliveries because my customers were waiting
\nfor me,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Chen An's work, which brings in a daily profit of about Rp
\n30,000 (US$3), requires him to go from house to house to sell his
\ncleaning products. Because of a lack of wheelchair access, he has
\nat times found himself crawling to a person's front door. And his
\nreception is not always warm, on one or two memorable occasions
\neven finding himself being pelted with stones.<\/p>\n
Despite the obstacles, over the last seven years Chen An has
\nsucceeded in building up his business of making and selling floor
\ncleaners, motorcycle cleaners, clothing deodorizers and liquid
\nsoaps. He now has a list of 150 regular customers, although at
\nfirst many people doubted the quality of his products.<\/p>\n
\"Now people prefer my products because they are cheaper than
\nsimilar products sold in supermarkets,\" said Chen An, who was
\nborn in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, and has lived in Surabaya
\nsince 1980.<\/p>\n
He is among the thousands of disabled people in East Java who
\nhave overcome the lack of public facilities for the disabled to
\nenter and thrive in the workforce.<\/p>\n
Wuri Handayani, a local coordinator for the International Day
\nof Disabled Persons, which fell on Saturday, criticized the
\nprovincial government for failing to provide facilities for the
\ndisabled.<\/p>\n
\"Disabled people have a lot of difficulty trying to get around
\ntown or take public transportation. It seems like we are second-
\nclass citizens here,\" Wuri said.<\/p>\n
She talked about a man she knows, a wheelchair-user, who was
\nunable to pray in the one of the province's largest mosques
\nbecause security guards refused to allow him into the mosque with
\nhis wheelchair.<\/p>\n
But she and other disabled people in East Java continue to
\nfight for their rights. Currently, they are urging the provincial
\nadministration to approve a draft bylaw on public services for
\nthe disabled which is currently being deliberated.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/disabled-in-east-java-struggle-for-inclusion-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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