Titik: I've simply tried to empower the disabled

Titik: I've simply tried to empower the disabled

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post/Surabaya

There is nothing notable about the house at Jl. Sidosermo Indah
II No. 5 in South Surabaya, except for its waist-high corroded
iron fence.

"There is nothing special about the house from the outside. It
is a simple house, and also our workshop," said Titik Winarti,
while welcoming The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Titik has called the place Tiara Handicraft workshop.

This simple house, however, has many interesting stories to
tell. It is here that Titik and her family reside and it is also
here that she and her 30 employees, 21 of whom are disabled,
produce handicrafts.

For her handicraft business, the house, which has a sitting
room, three bedrooms and a kitchen, has been turned into a
"factory".

The sitting room is used as a small showroom to display their
handicrafts. The room to its right is where the workers work
every day," Titik said, while taking the Post around the house.

Together with her husband, M. Yudha, Titik has been in the
handicraft business for nine years. When the business was first
set up in mid-1995, they had only one sewing machine and cloth of
different varieties.

They made hand-embroidered handbags, wedding souvenirs and
other handicraft items. "We struggled quite hard in our first
year," she said. However, Titik, 34, is now enjoying the fruits
of her persistence and indefatigable spirit.

Five years into this business, Titik was able to buy more
sewing machines and today a constant flow of orders comes her
way.

Titik decided to employ disabled people after a chance
conversation with an employee at the Surabaya social services
office. She was, at that time, taking a handicraft course given
by the office.

There, Titik, who always wears a Muslim head scarf, saw quite
a lot of disabled people learning to make handicrafts. "I was
touched and finally asked one of them to work for me," she said.
She realized that although they had disabilities, the disabled
could work like anyone else.

Titik knew that the skills that these people had learned from
the social services office could be tapped so that they could
earn their own money. Gradually, she introduced a positive work
ethos to them.

She finds now that disabled people working for her are as
responsible as able-bodied people. On average, they earn Rp
400,000 per month. "One of my employees has paralyzed legs but is
very skilled at drawing a pattern. The patterns of most of our
products now come from this person," she said.

As Titik is quite close to her workers, Setia Bhakti Wanita,
the cooperative she has joined, entered Tiara Handicraft in the
contest, "Microenterpreneurship In the context of International
Micro-Credit Year", held by the United Nations.

"We sent two names, Titik Winarti, as an employer who employs
disabled people, and Puji Lestari, a recycled plastic
businesswomen who employs scavengers," said Yoos Aisyah Lutfi,
the cooperative's chairperson.

The contest saw microbusinesspeople from eight countries
participating in the event: Indonesia, Afghanistan, Rwanda, the
Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cambodia, Pakistan and Mozambique.
The winner will be invited to visit the UN headquarters in New
York to attend a ceremony to mark the announcement of
International Microcredit Year on Nov. 18, 2004.

Titik won the contest so she will leave for New York together
with one of her disabled workers.

Yoos is very proud that one of her cooperative members can
represent Indonesia in an international event. "I hope there will
be a new Titik from Surabaya who can help disabled people," she
said.

Titik is slightly nonplused at winning the contest. "I don't
know why I have been elected to represent Indonesia in the U.S.
What should I do?

"I have simply prepared the way for disabled people to run
their own businesses," she said. Titik also said she had never
been to the U.S. before.

"I don't know what it is like. It seems quite difficult to
visit the U.S. The visa and other permits are difficult to
obtain," she said.

She expressed the hope that after her return from the U.S, she
would be better able to help disabled people. "Just pray for me
-- OK?" she said.

tak dipakai

Second article

Titik's products exported to Brazil

ID Nugroho
The Jakarta Post/Surabaya

Titik Winarti deserves kudos for her handicraft business. Her
home industry can yield Rp 120 million a year. It produces 12
handicraft items and the net profit is about Rp 36 million a
year.

Titik was proud when her products were exported to Brazil
although the export value was less than Rp 20 million. "That is
not a huge sum but we are proud because we have been able to
export our products," she said.

She added that she was able to export to Brazil thanks to help
from a business contact who runs a boutique there.

"At first, we were confused over what to do and left our
products to an exporter here," she said, trying not to smile.

Tiara Handicraft products are also sold in a number of major
cities in Indonesia, including Denpasar, Jakarta, Balikpapan and
Batam. "Our buyers say Tiara Handicrafts are reasonably priced so
they usually buy them in large quantities," she said.

A small beaded handbag costs Rp 20,000. A larger handbag with
an exclusive design similar to a branded item costs Rp 90,000.

"That's quite cheap for handmade products with an exclusive
design. The shop that buys the products can mark up the price by
some 20 percent," she said.

What Titik has done can be a model for other companies to
employ disabled people. Many companies do not want to employ such
people because they usually think they have to pay two people to
do the work of a single employee, she said, adding that in
reality disabled people can work as well as able-bodied people.

She also said that the equipment used in her home industry was
no different to what other companies in the same business use.
"So, after leaving my company, these disabled people can work in
other companies where sophisticated machinery is used," she said.

She said, however, that the way she ran the business would not
make it grow fast. The most important thing for her was how many
disabled people, who are usually marginalized, she could help to
become financially independent.

I still don't own a car she said. I do have dozens of sewing
machines and a motorcycle, but I'm happy," she said.

Titik may even be as happy as the disabled people whom she has
helped to achieve financial independence.