Yakkum empowers the disabled to help themselves

David Kennedy, Contributor, Yogyakarta, d_kenn@yahoo.com

Sujimanto was 16 when he fell from a tree while playing in his village near Parangtritis, Yogyakarta. Two weeks later he was still lay in the hospital paralyzed from the waist down. He needed an operation that his family could not afford. He spent the next seven years at home, lying on a bed.

Today, the 34-year-old receptionist at Yakkum rehabilitation center in Yogyakarta smiles brightly and directs clients towards the center's various departments which help physically disabled children and young adults from poor families. Sujimanto himself has a specially made wheelchair and a modified motorbike which allows him to get around the city.

"Before I came here I was depressed about the future," he said. "Now I am happy to have a good job and a wife and daughter."

Over 3,300 disabled people like Sujimanto have been helped by Yakkum, a physical rehabilitation center established in 1984 with support from overseas donors. Although funded by a Christian association, the center does not promote any religion and 90 percent of its clients are Muslims.

Official figures from the Yogyakarta provincial government indicate that at least 23,000 people in the Yogyakarta area have a disability. Over 250 rehabilitation centers are officially registered in the region but demand for services greatly exceeds the supply. Centers like Yakkum have long waiting lists.

Yakkum is the largest physical rehabilitation center in the region catering to poor people and it accepts clients from all over Indonesia, though most are from Yogyakarta and Central Java. It offers a wide range of services which begin with locating the disabled in remote villages where they are often housebound.

In many cases people are only able to crawl around at home and only get outdoors when carried as their families cannot afford crutches or wheelchairs. When they come to Yakkum they are helped to move around by themselves and often get their first opportunity to go to school.

"What makes this center different to any other is the comprehensive range of services we provide," says Pardjano, a field worker who, like over half of the staff, is also disabled. "We go into the villages and look into a person's background by speaking with community leaders and family members."

Over 1,328 people are currently being helped by Yakkum and about 90 stay at the center. The center has a clinic which provides prosthetic limbs, operations and physiotherapy. Clients are taught various subject including the junior level of school and vocational courses such as computer, metal working and dressmaking. Social psychologists work with the young people to boost their confidence which is often shattered after long periods of inactivity.

"It has made a huge difference for me to be here. I can prove that I am able to do something," said Endang, a 25-year-old from Bandung who is in a wheelchair due to scoliosis. She explains, in fluent English, that before she came here she had never attended school but taught herself using her sister's books.

Endang came to the center a year ago in search of a job and is now an administrative trainee.

"Before, I lacked confidence and I could not go to school. But when I came here people tested me and made me determined to be stronger. When I have finished my training, I want to prove to employers that I can do things," Endang said.

Yakkum, like most of the other centers for the disabled in the region, is experiencing serious financial difficulties and has been forced to reduce its intake of clients.

Rehabilitation centers rely heavily on donations which can come to an end. Ninety per cent of Yakkum's donations come from Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand and one major donor has recently ceased payments.

"We are operating with an increasing deficit. If alternative funding is not found we will have to reduce some services like vocational training," said Dr. Mundarsi, Vice Director of Yakkum.

Dr. Mundarsi regrets that while the provincial department for social affairs refers clients to the center, it does not provide regular funding. Dr. Andu, a fundraiser with the center, estimates that the only direct government assistance received in the last five years was Rp 3 million and two typewriters.

The assistant secretary to the governor in charge of social affairs, Bambang Purnomo, told The Jakarta Post that the poor finances of the provincial government meant direct financial support was not available for rehabilitation centers like Yakkum.

"It is difficult. We cannot raise much in taxes as due to the lack of industry in the region. We can help with fundraising events but not directly with funding. Yogya(karta) is a poor government," he claimed.

Do rehabilitation centers need to become more self-sufficient? Some suggest they should act as employers for the disabled and produce goods and services which compete on the open market.

Yakkum has attempted to be less dependent on donations in recent years. A craft center and a metal workshop raise some revenue but the sums earned are only enough to buy more materials. However Dr. Mundarsi points out that Yakkum also provides an important social and educational service and that it is unlikely to ever be completely self sufficient.

The centers efforts to stay afloat have not gone unnoticed. The German Embassy in Jakarta recently pledged Rp 40 million for the purchase of modern sewing machines for dressmaking apprentices.

"This modern equipment could help us move towards more commercial production," said Gerhard, an Austrian engineer who runs the metal workshop at Yakkum.

Gerhard sees a future for small cottage industries using the old equipment at the center. One group of dressmakers has already set up a workshop nearby and is supplying shops around the country. Skill and enthusiasm can be found in abundance here and there is a great demand for low cost, high quality needlework.

Saswatiningrum, a 22-year-old trainee dressmaker from Rembang, Central Java, who wears a leg brace, is keen to exploit this market opportunity. She is determined to set up her own business employing disabled dressmakers and tailors.

"Disabled people themselves must first prove that they can do things and make a useful contribution," she said. Her friend Endang agrees but adds another condition.

"We also need opportunities to prove that we have the strength to do things and the heart and the brains to succeed. I believe we can all do the same things. We just get there in a different way."