Art the 'light' for disabled cultural troupe

By Hera Diani

JAKARTA (JP): The city we live in is uncomfortable enough for people with all their faculties, let alone for the disabled.

Diana, who is in her 30s, knows it all too well.

Paralyzed and in a wheelchair since the age of four due to polio, she overcame her disability a long time ago.

"I just wish I could go by myself more often. I want to go to the malls," she told The Jakarta Post recently.

"But here, I find it difficult to go anywhere ..."

Most public buildings, Diana said, are not accessible for wheelchairs and it is hard to even get onto a bus.

Nevertheless, she did not just stay home. she has a job in the Indonesian Association for Disabled People (PPCI) and takes a bus ride every day from her house in Bekasi. All by herself.

But most of the rest of her time was spent at home, which she said was "boring". Then she heard from a friend about Al Hakim Foundation who provide training for the disabled.

It was in 1995, and Diana has since learned how to dance traditional dance, play some musical instruments and sing.

"It was difficult at first. But the teacher is great and I gained many friends," she said.

Now, with 29 fellow disabled people from the foundation, she has performed in many countries under the name of Indonesia Disabled Art and Culture Troupe.

The group claims to be the only disabled art and culture troupe in the world, and have already performed in China, Australia, Japan and France.

They have also won many awards, including 1999's Wataboshi Music Festival Awards in Nara, Japan. Last year, Princess Lala, the sister of the King of Morocco, personally invited them to perform in Rabat and Paris.

The troupe consists of people in wheelchair-bound people, like Diana, the blind, deaf and also mute people.

They performed at the end of August at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, Central Jakarta. They danced several traditional dances from nearly every island of the country, such as tari payung, tari piring and lompat bambu (Bamboo Hop) dance from Maluku.

The latter actually takes high coordination, but the deaf people and a man with one leg can do it well.

The blind showed their beautiful voices that night, singing a range of songs, from dangdut music to ABBA hits.

The chairman of the Al Hakim Foundation, Datuk Hakim Thantawi, said the performance was a try-out for the upcoming art mission to Algeria, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Vatican.

"The mission was initiated by the Indonesian Embassy in those countries," he told the Post.

Datuk, who is physically able, urged people to pay more attention to disabled people.

"They have potential, but there are hardly any facilities for them. Many of them often are shooed away because people think they are street singers," said Datuk.

Right now, he said, there are around 60 to 80 disabled people trained in the foundation, with ages ranging from a 14-year-old to a 35 year old.

They are taught by eight teachers who are also disabled.

"It's difficult, though, to find teachers," Datuk said.

He added that performing dances or music on stage is a therapy for the disabled people and also help boosts their self- confidence, and will eventually lead to their professionalism.

It was clearly showed in the faces of those people, like Diana who said, "I'm very happy".

Or as the banner on the stage put it, it is a "Challenge for a better life, A light in the dark".