A Winding Road to Get a Decent Job

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Mentally handicapped women participate in a training program on producing handicrafts with colored cloth using shibori techniques at the Yakkum Rehabilitation Center complex, Ngaglik district, Sleman, Yogyakarta, Wednesday (12/11/2019). The training was held for two months. Such training programs are held routinely at the center to help people with disabilities become productive and financially independent.

October 2019 was an unforgettable month for Mahreta Maha, 38, a blind person from Jakarta. She was very happy because she got word over the telephone that she had been accepted to work in a state-owned enterprise (SOE).

"Very happy. Who, does not want to work in an SOE, whose status is almost the same as a civil servant, especially those of us with disabilities. Perhaps the salary is low, but it provides security into old age," said Mahreta, Sunday (15/12/2019), in Jakarta.