Malang, (malangkota.go.id) – Some people think that people with disabilities are incapable of working. They think that people with disabilities cannot be successful. This is the mindset that Paracita wants to change. Limitations should not be a barrier. Many people with disabilities actually have talents and skills that if developed will become something extraordinary.
But unfortunately, there are still few places for them to develop themselves and be creative. This is the background for Satrio Tegar Sadewo and Ekananda Putri Nur Afandi to establish Percacita. Percacita is here to accommodate and facilitate the disabled to be able to improve their skills so that they can develop further and help the economy.
"Percacita is a non-profit institution that focuses on empowering people with disabilities throughout Indonesia by providing access to skills education and assistance for start-up businesses. We take Percacita from the terms perca and cita. Perca means something (cloth) that is thrown away. However, if utilized, it can become a beautiful work and the word cita means hope," said Satrio.
That is the hope built by Percacita, there is hope even from something that is sometimes considered insignificant, marginalized, and even discarded. Since its establishment in 2019, the number of people with disabilities involved in Percacita training activities has been recorded at 843 people spread across 117 cities in 30 provinces in Indonesia. Percacita also involves 83 special school (SLB) and inclusive school teachers in various regions in Indonesia in the training program.
"Especially for people with disabilities who come from the city of Malang and its surroundings, there are 84 people with disabilities who participated in the Percacita activity," said the graduate of the Business Administration Department of Brawijaya University, Malang.
According to Satrio, Percacita is currently running various skills training programs for people with disabilities in various regions in Indonesia free of charge. One of the trainings that will be provided in the near future is shoe washing skills training for people with disabilities in early July 2022. Through this training, Percacita hopes that participants will be motivated to open businesses such as laundry services in order to earn additional income.
"Some types of skills training provided by Percacita include training in making bags, wallets, and tissue holders from patchwork fabric, make-up skills, shoe washing skills, and skills in making handicrafts from paper materials. The training organized by Percacita is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Alumni Grant Scheme and managed by Australia Awards Indonesia," he explained.
Percacita, the winner of the 2020 Dekranasda Award in the Potential IKM Startup category, not only provides various kinds of skills training. There are several products made by people with disabilities that Percacita has helped sell, namely patchwork wallets with sun motifs, patchwork wallets with yoyo motifs, patchwork wallets with Singosari temples, flying geese tote bags, love tote bags, and ringkes tote bags.
These products are sold at prices ranging from Rp65.000,00 to Rp85.000,00. Percacita also helps market products made by people with disabilities for souvenirs in seminars, socializations, and wedding activities. Various activities and products sold by Percacita can be seen on the website percacita.com and the Instagram account @percacita. (ari/ram)
