Reading Time: 3 minutesVadhiya Rahma Naisya started gathering some materials for tomorrow. She and five other fellow students of the Department of Communications UII held a community empowerment event in the Difabelzone Community, Pandak, Bantul last December, 2020. Even though she was sweating, he never complained. Vadhiya has the principle, if sharing can be a blessing for others, it will gain happiness indeed.
These materials are dyes, cloth, and several other tools for the practice of making tie dye. For those who don’t know about tie dye, they will definitely frown. But it turns out that tie dye has been known for a long time, especially in Java with the name jumputan. Vadhiya said that making tie dyes with these members of difabel zone community is very enjoyable. How could it not be, enthusiasm and the unexpected finish that made the painstaking preparations here and there for about three weeks paid off.
Strict Health Protocols
Despite the pandemic, they designed the tie dye-making training to be lively. It also going with strict health protocols, Ila, for example. According to Vadhiya’s stories, Mbak Ila, who has a speech disability, was very interested. She also active in following the instructions and practices of making tie dye from Vadhiya and friends. Vadhiya also learned various things, she said. “For example, if Ms. Ila wants to ask about techniques and methods that are not yet clear, Vadhiya will ask Mrs. Irene. From Mrs. Irene’s explanation, I also learned about how to communicate in sign language,” said Vadhiya.
“It feels like the two days of Tie Dye making training are still not enough if we remember the togetherness and kinship here, even when we came home, it took a long time to say goodbye there,” recalled Vadhiya. “I am happy with the enthusiasm and high willingness to learn from friends in difabelzone community.”
She and the team carried out community empowerment to fulfill the course Non-Commercial Communication Program Management taught by Puji Hariyanti, the lecturer of the Department of Communication, which is an Empowerment Communication specialist. Puji even appreciated the idea of tie dye with the disabled community and hopes that it can be continued again.
How to make community empowerment in the midst of a pandemic?
“Yes, just go with the flow,” she said. “We live like playing. There is no burden. So even though there are those outside the city, we share tasks that can be done from outside the city,” explained Vadhiya. Precisely when you are taken to relax and obey the UII health protocols, everything that feels difficult at first becomes easy.
“Many people said that people with disabilities are deficient, in fact, I say it was untrue. No, that really is friends with disabilities. It has many advantages,” said Irene Juliana, a companion community of difabelZone.id.
Vadhiya revealed that in the previous time, difabelzone community, that was founded in 2016, has long been able to make batik. You can see how neatness and their perseverance. “We feel like we can go home for a week, we learn a lot about work,” said Vadhiya during a monthly discussion organized by the Nadim, Center for Alternative Media Studies and Documentation (PSDMA) of the Department of Communications of UII on March 31, 2021.
Sara Fadila, a member of the empowerment team also said, “Their positive response made me happy. I’m happy to be able to try new things too. They are full of enthusiasm, and that is what impressed me,” she said.
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