Love for Special Children

Slamet Purwanto, 35, and Evi Lukhi Kustanti, 34, have unlimited love for children with special needs. For Slamet and Evi, children with special needs are "pearls".

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

Husband and wife Slamet Purwanto, 35, and Evi Lukhi Kustanti, 34, meet in Tanjung, Tabalong regency, South Kalimantan, Thursday (21/11/2019).

Married couple Slamet Purwanto, 35, and Evi Lukhi Kustanti, 34, have unlimited love for children with special needs. They pioneered the establishment of a care center for children with special needs in the far north of South Kalimantan to help parents and their children lead normal lives without discrimination.

For Slamet and Evi, children with special needs are "pearls". Parents who have children with special needs must not be ashamed and discouraged by their child. That\'s because the children can also grow and develop well if they get the right assistance.

"At the end of 2011, we established the care center in Tanjung to assist children with special needs," Slamet said in Tanjung, Tabalong regency, Thursday (21/11/2019). Tanjung is 232 kilometers from Banjarmasin and directly borders Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces.

Slamet and Evi, who both hail from Sragen, Central Java, realized that people living in Tanjung were far from the care centers for children with special needs. Such a care center only exists in Banjarmasin or Balikpapan, which is about 300 kilometers from Tanjung.

Our intention is to help the parents who have children with special needs.

Not all the parents of children with special needs can access care centers in big cities because of constraints of distance and costs. "Therefore, we will start first. Our intention is to help the parents who have children with special needs. Moreover, not all children with special needs come from wealthy families," said Slamet.

The handling of children with special needs is done by Evi, who is indeed an expert in the field of occupational therapy. Slamet, who has a civil engineering education background, fully supports the activities of his wife. He helps in matters beyond the direct handling of children with special needs, such as setting up sites and making the media for learning activities.

Evi said there were 12 children who were treated when the care center for the children was just opened. To deal with the children, she was assisted by two therapists. Unlike Evi, the two therapists who helped her were not professionals in the field of handling children with special needs. "I gave them training first for three months," Evi said.

At the care center run by the married couple, who have one daughter, children with special needs are treated with a variety of therapies, such as occupational therapy, applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy for their behavior, floor time therapy (playing on the floor), sensory integration, swimming therapy and Quran therapy.

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

Slamet Purwanto and Evi Lukhi Kustanti

In the process of therapy, the child\'s parents must be involved. So Evi and her therapists routinely make door-to-door visits to make sure the parents continue therapy sessions at home. "With that approach, the parents are also happy because the progress of their child\'s development runs rapidly," said Evi.

Children with special needs whose emotions and behavior improve are given recommendations for admission to public schools. Public schools that initially did not want to accept children with special needs began to be willing to accept children with special needs who had undergone the therapy process.

We had to move five times before occupying the building that is being used now.

Over time, information on the handling of children with special needs spread by word of mouth. More parents and children with special needs are coming. Slamet and Evi also have to find a place that is adequate, safe and comfortable for children. "We had to move five times before occupying the building that is being used now," said Slamet.

The building for the care center for children with special needs that is currently occupied was built in 2016 and inaugurated by the regent of Tabalong Anang Syakhfiani in January 2017. "We have the support of PT Adaro Indonesia through its CSR [corporate social responsibility] program for the construction of the building," said Slamet.

Not easy

Slamet and Evi\'s journey to build the care center for children with special needs in Tanjung was not easy. Before they could get the attention and support of local administrations and private companies, like they have now, they had to fight for themselves. Moreover, a local officer at that time discouraged the effort and denied the existence of children with special needs in Tabalong.

"At that time there was a statement from one of the heads of agencies that there were no special needs children in Tabalong, even though we had handled about 20 children," said Evi.

To prove that the statement of the regional official was wrong, Slamet and Evi also held various activities involving children with special needs. After seeing children with special needs, the regional official corrected his statement and eventually acknowledged the presence of children with special needs in Tabalong.

After there was recognition and attention, Slamet and Evi established the Taman Mutiara Indonesia Foundation in 2014. The foundation houses the special care center for children with special needs and has been running for three years. "We saw an easier process of proposing aid after it was formed," said Slamet.

They did not have to pay the full cost of therapy, or even did not pay at all,

Slamet and Evi still need help from others in the care of children with special needs. That is because some children with special disabilities come from poor families. They have difficulty paying the full cost of therapy. "From the start of providing services, we always gave subsidies to children from underprivileged families. They did not have to pay the full cost of therapy, or even did not pay at all," said Slamet.

Slamet and Evi have to spend their money to help children with special needs who come from disadvantaged families. However, now the burden of subsidies with private funds has begun to decrease because of the CSR program. "In the past, there were only one to three children we could subsidize. Now there are seven to eight children who get the subsidy. They don\'t pay at all," said Slamet.

At present, the Care Center for Children with Special Needs under the Taman Mutiara Indonesia Foundation handles 66 children. The foundation also organizes pre-school education for kids (PAUD) for children with special needs. According to Evi, the number of children treated has increased significantly since 2017. The children are not only from Tabalong, but also from outside Tabalong, including Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan.

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To deal with the children, Evi is now assisted by nine therapists. All the therapists came from Tabalong. One of them is currently studying in Java and is being prepared to become a professional therapist. "We have difficulty bringing professional therapists to Tabalong. Therefore, we empower Tabalong people to become therapists, and prepare them to become professional therapists," said Slamet.

Slamet and Evi want the care center for children with special needs in Tabalong to continue to exist in the future. Its existence should not depend on both of them. "The center for children with special needs must continue to run and become the property of the people. There is no longer any reason that children with special needs do not get proper treatment," said Slamet.

Slamet Purwanto

Born: Sragen, 17 November 1984

Education: Bachelor in Civil Engineering from Tunas Pembangunan University, Surakarta

Job: Private

Evi Lukhi Kustanti

Born: Sragen, 24 January 1985

Education: Diploma in Occupation Therapy from Health Polytechnic in Surakarta

Job: Civil apparatus at RSUD H Badaruddin Kasim Hospital, Tanjung

Child: Kalyna Aldya Wirastri (6)