Yakkum empowers the disabled to help themselves

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."