Receiving Assistance, a Person with a Disability in Solo Feels Optimistic that Her Sewing Business Will Grow More

SURAKARTA (September 2^nd, 2023) – Sri Hartanti, a person with a disability, smiles happily. Her name is on the list of assistance beneficiaries for entrepreneurship from Ministry of Social Affairs.

It’s been years since she pursued sewing business, yet she received government assistance just now. She expressed her gratitude when Prof. Dr. Soeharso Integrated Center in Surakarta gave her assistance with a hem sewing machine and its desk. In addition, she also got basic foods for her daily needs.

“Thank God, I’ve been given a hem sewing machine. I don’t need to go back and forth just to hem to another place. I’m so happy. I get not only the machine but also basic foods,” the 46-year-old woman says with her teary eyes.

She yearns for hem sewing machine. She used to deliver her clothing materials to other shops for hemming. As someone suffers from acute flaccid paralysis, she has limited mobility. Surely this mobility needs extra effort. Now, using the assistance of a hem sewing machine from Ministry of Social Affairs’ technical implementation unit, she doesn’t need to go to another shop to hem.

“I can’t walk since I was one year old. At that time, I was learning to walk. I was feverish. Then, I got a shot from a medical staff. I got shot while I was feverish. I got weak. Then, I can’t walk until now,” the mother of two kids said while remembering her past.

Living as a person with disabilities is not easy, but she endures it patiently. Sri remembered the life when she was in Elementary School and Junior High School. She went to a Special School. But when she was in Senior High School, she was discriminated against by her friends.

“When I was in High School, I felt inferior because my friends thought that I was weak. There’s only one or two friends who were willing to be my friend. That’s the reason why I thought that I had to show them that was capable,” the woman who lives in RT 04/RW 13, Pajang Subdistrict, Laweyan District, Surakarta, said.

Sri Hartanti has been married. Even though her husband is also a person with a disability, they are striving for their family’s well-being. Sri sews, and her husband sells drinks.

“I get about IDR 1,5 million for sewing. My husband also sells drinks. His income is just enough to meet daily needs. Thankfully, we got assistance of a desk for selling drinks and the equipment needed. Hopefully, we can sell more better,” Sri said.

Sri hopes that she will be able to finish her customers’ sewing orders sooner. She is determined to always be independent, and not dependent on her surroundings.  She even wants to ease her husband’s and her family’s burden.

The assistance for Sri Hartanti is given as a series of Campaign of Persons with Disabilities Rights Fulfilment held by Prof. Dr. Soeharso Integrated Center in Surakarta. There are four persons with disabilities who got Social Rehabilitation Assistance (ATENSI).

ATENSI assistance for Disability Cluster as venture capital are hem sewing machine for sewing, baking tools, drink maker equipment, and a three-wheeled motorcycle for persons with disabilities business mobility. They are worth IDR 85,568,500 in total.

“The assistance is targeting the persons with disabilities because they have equal rights with other people. The state through Ministry of Social Affairs is tasked to protect and facilitate the fulfillment of their rights,” the Acting Head of Prof. Dr. Soeharso Integrated Center in Surakarta, Supriyono, said while distributing the assistance.

In line with Disability Laws Number 8 of 2016, persons with disabilities have 22 basic rights that can be fulfilled. With the help of hem sewing machine, three rights for a person with a disability for Sri have been fulfilled. Those are entrepreneurship rights, social welfare rights and the right to live independently and to be involved in the community.