Voice Alms, “Reader” “Abiyoso” Keeps Innovating Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

CIMAHI (April 18th 2020) - As the only literacy service provider for people with visual sensory disabilities (PDSN) under the auspices of the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs, the Indonesian Braille Literacy Center (BLBI) "Abiyoso" is mandated as manager of braille literacy to fulfill PDSN literacy needs are of course very diverse, both in terms of content and format. In carrying out this mandate, BLBI “Abiyoso” has synergized with various parties, from government, private sector, and the general public.

One of the partners who contributed greatly to the implementation of various BLBI “Abiyoso” activities was the Abiyoso Readers Community. This community consists of volunteers from the general public. They volunteered to read books which would then be recorded on tapes and Compact Disk (CD). Tapes and CDs containing recordings of reading this book will then be distributed to all BLBI “Abiyoso” beneficiaries throughout Indonesia.

The forerunner of this community began to take shape in 2008, initiated by Erna Kaniawati, one of the BLBI “Abiyoso” employees who served as a dubber. At that time, he considered that with the increasing need for PDSN for audio books (talk books), there was a need for additional readers. Then his idea arose to invite his friends to participate. Encouraged by the intention to give alms, they agreed and began to be actively involved in "giving alms to voice". Why is it given the term "voice alms"? Because they do it voluntarily, without strings attached. Initially, the group of volunteer readers had not been given the name Abiyoso Readers Community, the name was only established in 2010.

In its development, the role of the Reader Abiyoso community is not only in the form of voluntary voiceover. They are always involved in various BLBI “Abiyoso” social activities, both related to partners and the community, especially PDSNs.

In addition, many social activities were initiated by Reader Abiyoso. For example watching a cinema with students with visual disabilities as well as being a whisper for them, being a reader for PDSN, donating to local residents, especially PDSNs, helping to fund breaking fast events with PDSN and various other social activities.

In 2018, Reader Abiyoso was also one of the donors for the Literacy Exhibition in the framework of the National Book Day organized by BLBI "Abiyoso" in collaboration with the West Java Indonesian Publisher Association (IKAPI), located at the BLBI "Abiyoso" Building.

The Readers Abiyoso Community and several friends with visual impairments were also invited to the Jakarta Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) by Mr. Nicky Hogan (former IDX Development Director) at the launch of a book he wrote himself. This book was translated into braille by BLBI Abiyoso, and was also dubbed by Reader Abiyoso. This book even received the MURI AWARD as the world's first braille stock book.

Given the important role of the Readers Abiyoso Community in fulfilling the literacy needs of PDSN, these volunteers never stop improving their skills in dubbing, for example by participating in various capacity building trainings in this field. All of these efforts are in order to continuously improve the quality of the talk book products so that they can be better accepted by PDSNs.

The existence of Reader Abiyoso can be said to be a form of the success of the BLBI “Abiyoso”, because it is able to encourage the participation of community elements to care for and contribute to fulfilling the needs of PDSN in various fields, especially literacy.

Until now, Reader Abiyoso has 25 members. Anyone can join as Reader Abiyoso, the most important thing is to have a commitment to be able to read the book or dub it voluntarily until the book is finished and then produced.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has not made Reader Abiyoso stop working in his social activities. Although he cannot record or voice over because he has to work from home to prevent the spread of this virus, Reader Abiyoso is actively involved in raising funds and distributing basic food and cash for people with disabilities affected by COVID-19. There are 175 basic food packages distributed to the West Java Blind Indonesian Association (Pertuni) and the West Java Indonesian Blind Muslim Association (ITMI), Cimahi City.

The distribution of this aid was also witnessed by Mrs. Attalia (the Governor of West Java). Furthermore, Reader Abiyoso together with the Head of BLBI "Abiyoso" distributed cash assistance of IDR 10 Million to the Indonesian Disability Inspiration Foundation (DiffsCare) which was distributed to friends with disabilities affected by COVID-19. Of course, the distribution of basic food items and cash still paid attention to security protocols. Maintain physical distance to prevent the spread of COVID-19.