The Contribution of the Abiyoso Center for PwD in the Superpower Country

CIMAHI (18 June 2022) – The reputation of Abiyoso Center in Cimahi has gone global. As the only institution providing braille literacy services for People with Visual Impairment in Indonesia, this technical implementation of the Ministry of Social Affairs was visited by guests from various countries.

Recently, the Abiyoso Center had guests from the manager of the Library of Congress (LC), namely Nina Kania Dewi as the Acquisitions Southeast Asia Regional Office. The institution, which has an office in Washington DC, United States of America, was exploring the possibility that Sentra Abiyoso could provide braille books for United States citizens through the Library of Congress (LC).

"Indonesian textbooks are really needed by American citizens, both those living inside and outside America, whose first language is Indonesian," said Nina. She said that the library in this superpower country has a service called "National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled".

"This service provides reading materials that can be easily accessed by readers who experience reading disabilities, such as people with visual disabilities (total or low vision) and dyslexia," Nina added.

The library which was first formed in 1800 is the largest library in the world which has six branch offices in various countries. Apart from Jakarta (Indonesia), the other five are located in New Delhi (India), Nairobi (Kenya), Islamabad (Pakistan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and Cairo (Egypt).

“Now there are more than 173 million collections owned by LC. Thanks to collaborations with various institutions outside America, about half of the collection is in a language other than English," said Nina.

Head of Administration Subdivision Abiyoso Center A Heri Kusumawardhana expressed his gratitude for the Library of Congress visit. "This is a form of concern for the need for braille books. Of course it is very beneficial for people with visual impairments." said Heri (18/06), representing the Head of Abiyoso Center Agung Hendrawan.

On this occasion, Nina conveyed her deep impression of the progress of the Ministry of Social Affairs through the Abiyoso Center in terms of production and supply of braille books.

"We have to keep in mind that there are still many people with visual impairments. They need information and accessible reading materials, especially in braille format. Not even in Indonesia, even in America, which incidentally is a developed country, braille letters are still very much needed and popular," said Nina.

Abiyoso Center is also still the only contributor of braille books and audio books from Indonesia for LC. "We are very proud that Abiyoso's books, both braille and audio, can be compared with other quality books from around the world in such a prestigious place," said Heri.

Furthermore, the collected books will be sent directly to Washington D.C. This shows Sentra Abiyoso's commitment to serving people with disabilities. This time the contribution even brightened at the international level. 

Public Relations Bureau

Ministry of Social Affairs