Indonesian entrepreneur collaborates with disabled people for award-winning business

From The Jakarta Post July 10:

An award-winning entrepreneur has established a successful export business with the help of people with disabilities.

Tatik Winarti, 38, a handicraft businesswoman from Surabaya, East Java, provides training for disabled people who then make products to export. Her efforts earned her the Global Micro Entrepreneur Award in 2004, which was also the International Year of Micro Credit.

Tatik received the award at the UN's headquarters in New York on Nov. 18 that same year and was recognized for her efforts for running Social Business entrepreneurship programs, which have been successful in raising the incomes of poor people with disabilities.

The story of Pudjiono, a disabled man from Sukolilo Regency in Pati, Central Java, illustrates Tatik's good work.

The 22-year-old's legs were paralyzed at a young age. After he left a rehabilitation center in Surakarta, he joined 45 other disabled people at Tiara Handicraft -- a home production business owned by Tatik.

Before working with Tatik, Pudjiono applied for other jobs, but all of his applications were rejected. After calling Tatik, he traveled from Surakarta to Surabaya by bus.

When Pudjiono started working with Tatik, his skills were limited. Tatik trained him how to use a sewing machine and offered him a room in her house.

For many businesspeople, employing a person with disabilities may be considered foolish, with productivity levels measured against able-bodied workers.

"Who says disabled people aren't productive? They're able to work, but they have to be given the same chances that are given to other people," Tatik told The Jakarta Post.