Lifeline braille magazine needs rescuing

By Kafil Yamin

BANDUNG (JP): Burung camar terbang tinggi/ hinggap di atas batu karang/ ngaku jadi Muslim sejati/ tapi tak pernah sembahyang.

These lines of the quatrain can be translated as: Seagull flies high/ It lands on the rock/ (They) call themselves good Muslims/ but never perform prayers.

This poem at the editorial desk of a Bandung-based bimonthly magazine was written by a young blind woman, Fitri Nugraha Ningsih, from Solo (Surakarta), Central Java. You won't be able to read it, though, because it was written in braille.

Fitri is a regular contributor to Gema Braille, the only braille magazine in the country. She receives Rp 5,000 for each piece that appears in the publication.

Ruhiyat, a blind editor of the magazine, finds that Fitri is indeed a gifted but fledging literary writer and her talent has been developing with the magazine. "I have been watching her development. She writes short stories and poems. She's showing significant improvements," he told The Jakarta Post.

Another contributor sent a popular science article entitled "Why (the bride) does not bleed on the first night". It is an explanation of the biological mechanism of a virgin bride the first time she has sex.

And Ruhiyat has anything it takes to be an editor. He checks, edits and organizes editorial meetings where the board of editors discusses what will appear in the next edition.

Ten editors now run the magazine. They include those who help convert selected articles to braille. Since it is more like an in-house magazine that does not require field coverage, editors take material from the printed media, books and brochures. The rest is sent by regular contributors and readers.

And as another editor, Harsono, puts it, their articles are the most appealing part of the magazine. "Maybe because the readers are the blind, and the works are of the blind, there is a sort of psychological connection created," he said.

Kontak jodoh (Matchmaking) is the most popular column. So high is the passion for this section that the editors have additional jobs: arranging meetings for corresponding readers. "After a couple meet each other, we just let them go ahead with their own plans," said Dadang Kusnadi, another editor.

Kusnadi does not recall exactly how many men and women met their spouse under the auspices of Gema Braille, "but there are many".

"Usually they invite us to their wedding party and we are delighted to attend," Kusnadi added.

Like general magazines, the publication also deals with current issues in the public arena. It has published, for example, a profile of Abdurrahman Wahid when he was just elected President. It also hit the mark with analysis on the last general election.

Gema Braille is published in Bandung by the Indonesian Braille Publishing House Abiyoso, which was controlled by the closed down social affairs ministry. It first appeared in 1959 as part of the ministry's efforts to serve the blind in the country with valuable reading materials.

The World Health Organization estimates that three million of Indonesia's 206 million people are blind, while the number of blind people worldwide reaches 45 million.

Abiyoso also produces talking books, reference books to fulfill the needs of schools for the blind. Gema Braille itself appears in two versions, one for children and the other for adults. Despite the ups and downs of the economic situation, the magazine has been consistent in reaching its readers.

Being a non-profit publication for decades, Gema Braille by any standard has improved. Some 1,100 copies are printed comprising 80 pages every two months. This is a significant achievement for a non-profit publication that initially had just 50 copies.

It has also made great strides forward in terms of equipment and physical aspects. The publication has acquired a comfortable office in the Bandung hinterland of Leuwigajah. Sophisticated printing machines and the latest computers, all of which are donations from foreign countries, boost the quality and efficiency of the publication.

Orphanages, schools for the blind and a number of social organizations are now enjoying the free magazine. Some of the blind find their talent developing and being nurtured.

With the closure of the social affairs ministry, editors, publishers and others who were involved in the publication see gloomy days ahead.

They have every reason to be skeptical. One edition requires Rp 33 million (US$4,714). This does not include salaries and other expenses. The magazine needs about Rp 200 million per year (about $28,571).

Greater concerns come from the readers themselves. "You see this?" Ruhiyat points at stacks of paper on his desk, "These are all letters asking for the continuity of the magazine in the wake of the social affairs ministry closure," he told the Post.

As President Abdurrahman suggested, it is the time for social work to be handled by the community itself. The board of editors of Gema Braille must find the way ahead themselves.

"Actually there is a letter addressed to the President. It asks the President what he will do about the magazine," Ruhiyat disclosed.

Ruhiyat is aware that it is unlikely that the President, who is partially blind, will read this letter.

"Not because he is incapable of reading braille, but because this letter will not land on the President's desk," he grinned.