Tracking Palu City, "Meohai" Kendari Center Finds 5 People with Speeches Disabilities

PALU (July 17, 2020) - After 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world's economic order, Loka "Meohai" Kendari, the Ministry of Social Affairs, took steps by visiting several of its coverage areas. One of them is the city of Palu, which was recently hit by the tsunami and the liquefaction of Petobo in 2018, having to accept the harsh reality of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has crippled the economy of the people in Palu. As a result, it was found 5 hearing sensory disabilities people who had businesses that ended up going out of business due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The five deaf people include Wahyuni, whose business selling processed food and cakes has practically stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yasin with his printing business which has begun to crawl forward, being ravaged by COVID-19, Rena, who has a sewing business, no longer found customers, Oce, who owns a barber shop, is no longer operating, and Yogi, who has a business similar to Wahyuni's, which sells processed food, is no longer in production.

It could be a series of disasters, namely the trauma of the tsunami and the liquefaction of Petobo 2 years ago, followed by the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, which teaches the meaning of patience for the five  hearing speech disabilites. Luckily, they still have families to support them in the midst of the economic hardships ravaged by COVID-19

As a UPT at the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs, Loka "Meohai" Kendari with its motto "We are always here for the deaf" really proved himself to be present in front of the five deaf. The team from Loka "Meohai" conducted assessments and provided psychosocial support by motivating them to remain patient in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic.

Budi Sucahyono as the Head of the "Meohai” Kendari Center said that his party would cooperate with relevant ministries/institutions including Small and Medium Enterprises (UKM) to find solutions for some people with hearing sensory disabilities whose economies were affected by COVID-19.

"For now, our team from Loka "Meohai" Kendari has only found 5 hearing sensory disabilities people whose economies have been affected by COVID-19, it is possible that there are many other deaf people around Palu City who have the same fate," said Budi.

"Therefore, we are trying our best to continue to collect data in the field to look for other speech-impaired people, and will make efforts by cooperating with related parties to find solutions together, advocating for the deaf. Because this responsibility is not only the responsibility of The "Meohai" center is only the responsibility of all relevant parties according to the mandate of Law Number 8 of 2016 on Persons with Disabilities," explained Budi.

"Therefore, we are trying our best to continue to collect data in the field to look for other speech-impaired people, and will make efforts by cooperating with related parties to find solutions together, advocating for the deaf. Because this responsibility is not only the responsibility of The "Meohai" center is only the responsibility of all relevant parties according to the mandate of Law Number 8 of 2016 on Persons with Disabilities," explained Budi.

Budi Sucahyono further added that Loka "Meohai" Kendari as the UPT which carries out the task of the Ministry of Social Affairs to deal with speech deaf will continue to strive for long-term efforts by cooperating with UKM to participate in realizing social welfare for every child of the nation by opening up job opportunities for people with hearing speech disabilities.

In addition to Palu, the Loka "Meohai" team in the future will also visit other areas, crossing boundaries to find people with hearing speech disabilities who need a helping hand. The helping hand they need is not only in the form of social assistance, but also social attention that contains psychosocial education or motivation that can raise their confidence.