[Rina Presarani speaking at a meeting]
[soft piano music]
I am Rina Prasarani, was born in Jakarta.
I am visually impaired.
Currently I work in a five-star hotel in Jakarta.
Besides that, I am also an activist for the disability movement in Indonesia.
I also have a micro business
as a frozen food reseller
and also fashion products.
And I am a single mother with two sons, Farhan and Melrizky.
In carrying out my daily life,
I am the same as women in general.
I also do many things myself.
From the start, even small children, I bathed them myself.
Only at first, maybe I need help,
but after that I bathe them from babies to toddlers.
In taking care of Melrizky, this is even more special
because he has a difference.
Besides being blind, he also has autistic syndrome.
So he has interaction barriers with his environment.
Just like parents in general, we take them to the hospital,
so we go to therapy and I also take them myself.
Even though my parents accompanied me,
sometimes I accompanied myself
and also taught all members of the house
how to communicate with Melrizky
because he also has communication difficulties.
Actually, it's the same as employees in general,
they must also learn.
All women must also have a stage where they learn to make up themselves.
Look and ask people's opinions.
Actually, I do, too.
So it's impossible for those who know how to do make up
know how to make up and know how to look
if you've never studied before
and usually we need a lot of practice.
For the visually impaired, the difference is more trial and error
than people or women in general.
Later, after everything is finished,
usually, I will ask my friend: "It's messy, or isn't it already good?
Isn't there something lacking or not?"
So later, they will surely tell you,
"Oh, this is lacking, it's not enough."
I know something is missing.
We'll do it tomorrow, the next day,
so remember,
oh, what was lacking yesterday means
we have to add something like that here.
I bought lipsticks from different brands.
We can know the packaging, right?
Oh, this one means the orange
or neon color.
This one is red.
If we hold the packaging,
sometimes lipstick and eyeliner
come in the same packaging.
So, I usually separate the places.
So for your own lipstick,
for eyes, for example,
mascara, eyeliner, eyebrow pencil,
I have one pouch of each own
so it won't be mixed up.
As single parent, we usually have a partner.
Then suddenly we have to do everything ourselves.
It's not easy
and I think
everyone also needs adjustments.
But fortunately,
from the beginning
I never depended too much on my partner,
so when I became a single mother,
what I used to do alone
was already used to doing it alone.
[street noises]
Regarding the time of the pandemic,
it was also difficult,
because at that time the economy was also not clear.
The hotel is also closed.
So I thought I should have another income.
So there I started to think about what I think could be
an addition to my finances,
because I also have no partner,
so I have to think about everything myself.
[dishes clinking, people talking]
At that time I thought about what people still need during a pandemic
and I saw there that the chances of frozen food are very high
because the average person at home doesn't dare to go out,
so I started selling frozen food.
I bought a freezer with the help of my sister.
It started with selling two and a half kilos of French fries.
I started from there,
offering friends just by WhatsApp contact only.
So, from the WhatsApp status, my friends saw it,
then tried to buy it, and in the end,
the products continued to increase.
I also saw other opportunities
that I was about to celebrate Eid.
So I started looking at fashion products.
[traffic sounds]
Now for fashion products,
I don't have to stock all the goods at home,
so I only do dropship.
So if someone wants to buy,
I upload photos of the clothes.
Then if someone is interested, I will give them a variety of clothes.
Then he chooses which one he wants,
and I ask him which size he wants.
Then later I will send the photos
to the producer; the producer will send it directly to the buyer on my behalf.
[traffic sounds]
In my opinion, there are many rights of persons with disabilities in Indonesia that have not been fulfilled,
such as the articles about women, about children and also about respect for the household.
Some are, sometimes advised not to marry.
There are those who are allowed to get married
but are advised not to have children,
those who are allowed to get married but in the end, they don't raise their children themselves
so there are also many divorces after the marriage and the birth stage.
For women with disabilities in general,
believe that we are only part of the diversity of humans,
that is, that we are born perfect.
Some may have straight hair, some may have curly hair, some are less.
When we can position ourselves as complete women,
then, in fact, we can do anything,
and that disability is actually only the result of the interaction
between the disabilities that we have and the accessibility environment around us
and also the attitude of society when accessibility is available,
the level of our disability will be much lower.
A special message for female friends who may now still feel inferior
or may still have difficulties accessing education
or in daily life
or there are problems with partners in the family:
Keep believing that everything must have a way.
We can think creatively
and still struggle
because when we encounter difficulties,
that is where our opportunity
is to find solutions creatively.
So don't give up,
keep fighting
and show that we can.