As a disabled person living in Indonesia, I came into an understanding that there are many things in life that simply beyond my reach. Both society and structural issues I directly experienced makes me believe that the situation I have currently living in left no chance for improvements. Hence, I set my mind straight to face all problems occurred due to my disability with my own way, although they took more efforts or sometimes even directly put me in dangerous situation.

I still hold onto that belief when I get, and eventually choose to take, the opportunity to stay in Japan from Duskin Leadership Training.

Many people told me that there will be a life-altering experience that reconstruct most of our worldview. Today, I can proudly say that my experience in Japan truly changed me and my worldview. During my stay in Japan, I always feel blessed and grateful for the chances to learn about many important issues regarding of PWDs, learn from wonderful people and leaders, as well as directly experience how inclusive society should be. It is really common for PWDs in Indonesia to believe that we are supposed to stay at home and restrict ourselves to explore since our surroundings are not only inaccessible, but could be dangerous for minority like us.

Imagine how surprised I am to know that PWDs, especially wheelchair users in Japan are able to unlock so many opportunities, free to go out with less issues about accessibility, and able to actually have such enjoyment in their everyday life.

As soon as I came back to Indonesia, I realized that the issues for wheelchair users are quite different here. Here in Indonesia, we do not have accessible and reliable public transportations except in Jakarta (capital city of Indonesia) yet their coverages are limited in multiple main prefectures. Problem is, most area in Indonesia are not accessible for wheelchair users – thus I am required to order special taxi with bigger car in order to move my wheelchair from places to places. As we all know, taxis are definitely not cheap – and bigger one usually costs more. I also need to fold my wheelchair multiple times to put it inside the car – things that I definitely will need helps from another people. Not to mention that it is still hard to find wheelchair repair service, especially those with capabilities to handle electric wheelchair. I also need to mention that there are also issues at the destinations as well. Most location in Indonesia are not accessible in both physical constraints (such as multiple leveling, inaccessible toilet or narrow seating) and unavailability or non-existent important facilities (such as proper ramp and elevator as well as lack of awareness from staffs).

I conducted surveys to understand situation about accessibility information in Indonesia. Based on the results, all participants told us that they want to do recreational activities and partake in new experiences. However, around 80% of participants find difficulties to obtain information about accessibility which makes most of them discouraged to go out. They also express their worry about the risks of inaccessible places, from inconvenience to danger for their health and condition.

The results from survey lead me to set fundamental for my new project, which focuses on provide information about accessibility in various places and activities across Indonesia. The name for this project is Accessible Leisure (@accessible.leisure in Instagram) and aim to encourage people to engage with travel and leisure activities through accessibility information & curated directories as well as raise people awareness about accessibility issues in everyday life which often overlooked by our society. Main coverages for Accessible Leisure are categorized below:

1. Places - directory of destinations with fully or partially accessible across Indonesia.
2. Activities - suggested accessible activities to do during idle times.
3. Deeper Thoughts - understanding accessibility through new knowledge and perspectives\

I officially released this project in October 6th 2023 and gained many supports ever since. Many people said that content from Accessible Leisure helps them to broaden their knowledge and awareness about accessibility, something that most people here are not aware of. Some notable names in both media industry and disability movements begin to notice this project as well, which makes me happy and excited because I could learn so much from them and collaborate with them to make Indonesia more accessible.

Currently, I aim to make Accessible Leisure maintain its consistency to provide information as well as improve how to deliver the information itself. I constantly have conversation with various people in both media industry and disability movement on how to make the information more accessible and how to promote Accessible Leisure hence people will know about its existence and started to gain benefits from it. Several key takeovers from our current discussions are:

1. Implementation of Universal Color in Visual Design
2. Make Information Easier to Understand through Copywriting
3. Utilization of Bahasa Indonesia to reach many demographics
4. Audience Behavior and Preferences, especially Audience with Disabilities
5. Raise Engagement and Interaction within the Platform

I am forever grateful that my participation in Duskin Leadership Training helps me to understand about many issues in disability inclusion in our society. Moreover, during my stay in Japan I had an opportunity to discuss about my plan to take master course with Dr. Miho Omura from Tsukuba University and she introduced me to Mr. Hidzume Masafumi from Nozominosono (National Center for Persons with Severe Intellectual Disabilities). Not long after my arrival in Indonesia, Mr. Hidzume offered me an opportunity to work as a researcher in Nozominosono– a chance that I happily accept. I believe that my choice to participate in Nozominosono will not only shape my capability in research, but also enable me to contribute more in disability movement and society.

As a researcher in Nozominosono, I am responsible to assist current on-going research in both data collection, analysis, reports and translation. It feels really exciting since I am one of the youngest in the team, and majority of the team are people with years of experience in their fields. Although sometimes I feel inferior compared with them, I am grateful since I also could learn so much from everyone. As a new researcher, I am also delighted that they really appreciate and take their time to guide me to be a better researcher.

There are some projects developing by Nozominosono which I also take part in. First project is collaborative efforts between Nozominosono, Hosei University, ERIA (the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia) and LSPR (London School of Public Relations) which resulted in a report titled “The Current Status and Issues for Healthcare Policies for Persons with Developmental Disorders in Southeast Asia” and guidebook on “Development of Parent Training, Mentoring, Group Coaching Guidelines to Enhance the Quality of Life of Parents of Persons with Developmental Disorders in Southeast Asia”. Both researches analyze current condition of developmental disorders in Southeast Asia, which data was gathered from multiple countries like Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam.

This report concludes the early rise for me to contribute more into disability empowerment and inclusion. I believe that this is just the beginning and I need to develop myself even more. My journey helps me to cross path with so many amazing and inspiring people, which I really aspire to have their capability, passion, as well as dedication to contribute more and more to the world we currently living in.

In short, Duskin Leadership Training unlocked the door that I myself never realized that I always have and helps me realize what I am aspire to be for my future.