Supported since its inception by Azimuth Adventure Travel, the HATI association, which has set itself the mission of supporting professionals serving people with disabilities in Indonesia, celebrated its 12 years of existence in October 2018 and has just completed its fifth training session in Indonesia.

Who are the members of HATI? What actions does the association lead? What are its needs and how can we support it? Daphné Barbedette, co-founder of the association, agreed to answer all our questions.

When, how, and why was the HATI Disability Indonesia association founded?

Following my meeting with a speech-language pathologist, Hélène Fadlan, who had known about the situation of disability in Indonesia since 2000. We were both in love with Indonesia, and we wanted to improve disability care in this country. HATI Disability Indonesia was therefore born in October 2006 to "Give a place to difference".

What are its main objectives?

HATI Disability Indonesia was created with the aim of supporting at the therapeutic level (speech therapy, psychomotor therapy, specialized education, …) future professionals or Indonesian professionals working with people with disabilities. The objectives of HATI DISABILITY INDONESIA are as follows:

- Participate in improving the living conditions and care of populations with disabilities (intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, …) and deaf people in Indonesia

- Contribute to developing appropriate care for different types of disabilities in Indonesia by implementing training sessions on issues related to caring for children with disabilities.

- Promote and help achieve Indonesian initiatives in this direction. In particular, HATI supports local associations, including Rumah Kata, which work for the socio-cultural development of the deaf community in the Yogyakarta region.

Since its creation, the HATI team, whose members are all volunteers, meets regularly to develop missions and organize various events in France, aimed on one hand at raising awareness of our actions, and on the other at funding our operations, future missions and our resource center project—a place for welcoming, providing information for parents, teachers and therapists specializing in therapeutic care in a first phase, and care provision in a second phase.

What missions has HATI Disability Indonesia carried out since its creation?

Five training sessions/knowledge exchanges have been conducted by French paramedics in the universities of UNY (2008, 2011, 2014, 2016) and Politeknik Surakarta (2018), and in the two specialized schools in Yogyakarta (2016, 2018).

Have you been able to observe an evolution in the situation of people with disabilities in Indonesia?

A vast subject. The situation has changed in absolute terms because customs evolve, certain "taboos" are lifted. The most striking example remains the cessation of forcing left-handedness, which is devastating for any child, but which has evolved in the context of disability, setting aside religious principles in favor of the child's well-being to promote the emergence of skills in children with specific needs. There is still a divide between the city and the countryside.

Money is another problematic factor, as some children are not in school or not in a school adapted to their disability. However, the increasing emergence of local associations or events working toward "awareness of difference" is beginning to have an effect. We are seeing an increase in the number of workshops to promote learning of Indonesian Sign Language (LSI), awareness of accessibility, protection of the disabled community through laws…

But much remains to be done, especially in terms of the number of specialized schools, institutes for adults, awareness of disability, diagnosis disclosure to parents, diagnosis…

As the years have passed, have your objectives evolved?

Our objectives remain the same, with the ultimate goal of opening a resource center in Indonesia. But as the years have passed, we wanted to have a more global vision by expanding HATI's missions in Indonesia, that is, also working to raise awareness of disability in French primary schools. The loop seems to be closing. All that remains is to achieve the central objective.

Who are the members of the HATI Disability Indonesia association?

Members are all volunteers, mainly paramedics. But everyone is welcome. We find both occasional volunteers and active volunteers.

What are your current needs?

Our current needs remain the same. We are always looking for volunteers because without people action does not exist. We are also looking for medical equipment such as wheelchairs, etc. And of course we also need funding, the lifeblood of any association, to finance missions we would like to bring closer together, and especially to open the resource center we would like to establish soon.

Can you tell us about the relationship between HATI Disability Indonesia and Azimuth Adventure Travel?

HATI Disability Indonesia and Azimuth Adventure Travel have a long history: a meeting, emotions… and especially the support and kindness of Dominique Clarisse, Director of the agency.

Here are three missions in which Dominique Clarisse supports us.

Through his patronage, the domestic flights (round-trip Yogyakarta) for volunteers are funded. His valuable support allows us to save, and thus enables us to fund interpreters on the ground, which is our largest expense during missions. And we thank him once again.

But Dominique is also the donor of chairs to Rumah Kata. It is thanks to donations and support that we continue to dare to believe that our cause is just. And without support, there is no energy. So thank you, really thank you.

What should you do if you want to support HATI Disability Indonesia? (as an individual, company...) If you want to help us, several options are available to you, whether you are an individual and/or a company. You can:

• Use Lilo, the solidarity search engine which allows you to fund the projects of associations, including HATI's (https://www.lilo.org/fr/hati-handicap-indonesie/). With each search performed, Lilo users accumulate "drops", which are converted into euros before being paid to the association of your choice.
  
  
• Make a donation through the Helloasso association platform (tax-deductible) on our website (hati-france.org or our Facebook page);
  
  
• But you can also go further in the adventure and do what Dominique does, by supporting us through corporate patronage (tax-deductible if you wish);
  
  
• Become our sponsor, establish a partnership (for example on your e-commerce platform) or any other form that suits you;
  
  
• Provide medical equipment that we will distribute in Indonesia;
  
  
• Collect caps (mainly for the Île-de-France region);
• Become part of our volunteer family;
  
  
• Or simply share our page https://www.facebook.com/HatiHandicapIndonesie/

You will find everything on www.hati-france.org. But nothing beats human contact, so don't hesitate to reach out to us, and let's get to know each other.