Photo caption: Screenshot from one of the Aku Mampu webinar series.

 

The “I Can” program initiated by DNetwork - the Disability Network focuses on helping people with disabilities to develop skills according to current career opportunities. Through “I Can”, we want to ensure that participants are qualified to get quality jobs, more resilient in the face of an ever-changing job market, and have the entrepreneurial mindset and creativity to survive in all situations.

Supported by the Australian Direct Aid Program since 2018 and also the Inspirasia Foundation, the “I Can” program series consists of mindset training, skill training (English, Digital Business, Content Writing), and entrepreneurial training and support in Aku Cab Do Business. More than 200 people with disabilities also participated in the I Can program series which was carried out from January to May 2022. Among them there are 6 businesses that have also been given training and capital through I Can Do Bussiness.

I Can Digital Marketing
As part of Digital Marketing, we decided to adapt the training to focus on digital business consultants. This intensive training is part of the priority in the education program. The goal is that the selected training participants can take part in internship after completing the training program. As it leads to a hands-on internship program, this is in line with our mission to increase employment rates for people with disabilities.

We also held a webinar for MSMEs to acknowledge them by “Hiring Their First Disabled Employee” and tell them that we are running a Digital Business program for people with disabilities and can be invited to contribute and give them experience in their own company. A total of 7 participants were selected for internships in companies to become their digital business consultants.

Each session was attended by approximately 40 participants and they were very enthusiastic, shown by the way they asked questions, shared experiences, etc. At the end of the session, we also shared their internship experiences and we created a shareable module which contains a summary of the entire training session. This is done to ensure the sustainability of the impact of our program; we want knowledge to reach more people than just those who attend training sessions on Zoom.

I Can Speak English
The number of applicants for this program is quite large; more than 100 people. We have 20 participants selected for a three-month English course, which is taught by a certified English teacher in Indonesia from After School English. The participants were placed in three different groups, each group consisting of participants with the same type of disability and the same level of understanding of English. This is done to ensure the effectiveness of the whole learning process. Participants are required to take an English test before the session starts and at the end of the program they will do it again, so that we can see the improvement in their English skills. Due to the high demand for special classes for Deaf Friends, we decided to open one and provide Sign Language Translator for all sessions.

I Can Write Content
This training starts in April 2022 and we need friends with disabilities. In this training, we focus more on citizen journalism training where the trainees can write journalistic articles that are not only creative and informative but also have economic value. In this training, we collaborated with BaleBengong.com, Bali's leading citizen journalism platform. From this training, participants also get the opportunity to become freelance contributors both on the BaleBengong platform and also as freelance contributors for DNetwork.

I Can Work in the Digital Age
This training is provided to support the ability of friends with disabilities to be able to compete in the digital job market. The material we provide is related to Job Potential as a Freelancer, Applying Basic Communication Skills, Self-Management and Improving Professional Attitudes, Exploring Equal Rights of Workers, and Preparing Job Applications and Interview Tests.

We believe that if friends with disabilities can be given training that suits the needs of today's companies, their potential to be absorbed in the job market will also be greater. This will certainly be a good starting line, both in understanding the requirements to enter the workforce and deciding to become a freelancer. In this activity, DNetwork hopes that the training participants will have high hopes and enthusiasm for creativity.

I Can Do Business
To accommodate the need to improve the entrepreneurial skills of business owners with disabilities, we held a series of entrepreneurship support sessions. The response from the community was very positive. We have over 100 applicants and we held four sessions with BEDO (Bali Export Development Organization), an Indonesian organization focused on maximizing local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, to discuss the following themes:
Entrepreneurial Mindset, Business Planning and Prototyping, Brand and Product Development, Marketing 101, Financial Literacy

After getting the five workshops, the training participants were assigned to make a financial business plan and the best 6 were selected to get seed funding. A total of 6 selected people received business capital assistance/seed funding of Rp. 2,000,000 who can develop their business for the better. Not only that, the participants were also given mentoring sessions to finalize their business plans to be more effective and sustainable.

As a platform which connects people with disabilities with the workplace, collaborating with Pabrik Pie Susu Ajik (the Pie Susu Ajik Factory) opened opportunities for our users to join as Production Staff. At the beginning of 2022, DNetwork Indonesia helped connect six Deaf people working as Production Staff at the Pie Susu Ajik Factory, one of Deaf is Ayu Komang Mahadewi, who has started working since April 2022. Information on vacancies as Production Staff was obtained by Ayu via social media DNetwork, and then tried to apply.

After the vacancy deadline was closed, Ayu received an interview call from the company via WhatsApp, and was able to pass the interview process well because the interview test used writing as a medium of communication so that Ayu had no difficulty even though she had hearing difficulties.

Currently Ayu is working as a Production Staff in charge of printing Pie Susu cakes at the Factory, and she feels happy to be able to work in a friendly environment to accept her.

"Thank you DNetwork for helping provide work information to friends with disabilities, so Ayu is now working and has her own income."