Although home to over 11 million people living with disabilities, public transportations in Indonesia, especially in smaller areas, have yet to properly accommodate their crucial needs. Worse still, access to job opportunities and a dignified way of living remain out of reach for a significant number of physically impaired Indonesians.
UK alumnus Gilang Ahmad Fauzi was concerned upon learning the statistics. “When I found out that there are over 8,000 graduates from Sekolah Luar Biasa (SLB) or Special Schools (schools in Indonesia that cater to people living with disabilities) in Yogyakarta alone not having the opportunity to get into higher education or get a job, I was compelled to take part in reducing the number,” reasons the techpreneur, who completed his master’s degree in Tourism, Heritage and Sustainability at the University of Glasgow.
In partnership with Difa Bike, a motorcycle taxi service based in Yogyakarta for the disabled, Gilang established Difa Travel X 2.0, a social action project aimed at empowering physically impaired drivers. He explains, “This project is a continuation of Difa Travel X 1.0, which used the virtual tool that my startup had devised to aid the drivers during the pandemic. Now that the pandemic is under control, this project aims to offer them job opportunities in the tourism sector since the sector has been able to provide them with a positive economic impact. We want them to be agile, independent, and able to run their own tours, which will then improve their economic conditions. The most important thing is that we want to make sure that tourism can be inclusive.”
Gilang further elaborates that the project’s beneficiaries are 30-35 Difa Bika drivers and SLB graduates with the following four phases:
- The training phase, which provides intensive training for five to six weeks to ensure that the beneficiaries are well-informed on the tourism sector and how to be capable tour guides. They will also be trained on public speaking and English skills in order to attract international visitors and expand their market reach.
- The mentoring phase, which focuses on intensive practice and knowledge sharing. Every two beneficiaries are assisted by one mentor only.
- The production and promotion phase, in which all drivers’ photos, videos, short profiles, and promotional materials will be produced and promoted on renowned platforms such as TripAdvisor, Tiket.com, Booking.com, and Traveloka.
- The piloting and launching phase, in which the beneficiaries will create and begin to run their own tours. Relevant stakeholders supporting the project, including the British Council. the British Embassy, and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, will be invited to witness the trial run of each tour.
“We will run pre-programme and post-programme evaluations to find out how the beneficiaries benefit and gain knowledge from the training. Afterwards, we aim for a long-term evaluation and see how many tours they can come up with and then how many tourists they are able to attract in the span of three to six months. We will also check how many products they publish in the tourism marketplace,” elaborates Gilang.
He adds, “Ultimately, we would like to promote inclusive and sustainable tourism and encourage the establishment of disability-friendly facilities and programmes at touristic sites.” In line with this objective, Gilang expresses hope that fellow UK alumni will follow suit in community empowerment. “If you want to get involved, feel free to take part in this initiative by being the trainer based on your passion and knowledge because we have several topics to cover during the training and mentoring phases. Alternatively, you could create a similar project to empower people with physical disabilities in your community.”
