World News from Indonesia

"A society where everyone, regardless of background or disability, feels welcome, included and supported"

Teen surpasses disability for golf

(Alexandra Hansen, The Jakarta Post 23.01.10) The Indonesia Records Museum is awarding 19-year-old Michael Rosihan Yacub for his dedication to golf, declaring him the only registered golfer with Down syndrome in Asia .

The awards ceremony will take place this Sunday. Since he was two, Michael has been a regular at a Pondok Indah golf club in South Jakarta , his mother, Aryanti Yacub said.

Aryanti said Michael had been awarded many trophies by the Pondok Indah Golf Tournament.

In 2004, Michael was accepted to compete in the Members Monthly Tournament at the Pondok Indah Golf Championships.

Michael said he was honored by the opportunity after he competed in the tournament.

His mother said he would be ecstatic to receive the award from the museum.

Aryanti, who is the Indonesian Down Syndrome Association (ISDI) chairwoman, said Michael had been following his sports-mad older brothers, Marco and Marcel, since he was a toddler.

"I can barely remember when he began to play golf, probably since he could walk," she said.

Aryanti said Michael's golf skill had improved over the years.

"Now he plays all 18 holes with a good score.

"He has been known to get bogeys, pars and even eagles."

Aryanti said she nominated her son for the award.

She said she approached the museum and was asked to provide evidence and documentation of his achievements.

The museum, which was established in 1990, said it would honor Michael's achievements with an award after one month of observation.

The museum's manager, Sri Widayati, said it decided that Michael's success was worthy of the honor.

In general, about 40 percent of children with Down syndrome suffer heart defects.

The genetic mutation causing Down syndrome can also cause misalignment of the body, making it impossible, or highly risky, to participate in sports.

It is estimated that over 300,000 people in Indonesia are currently living with Down syndrome.

Alexandra Hansen is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/

Aryanti Yacub: Disability awareness pioneer

(Alexandra Hansen, The Jakarta Post 04.02.10)

Parents whose children have Down syndrome are special parents, says Aryanti Yacub. “They have been chosen by God to care for special children and to make a difference.”

Aryanti Yacub had a normal childhood as the second eldest of five children, growing up in Jakarta . As a young woman, she had two sons, Marco and Marcel, who were both happy, healthy and very athletic.

She has always been a driven woman, striving to make a difference in the world. She didn’t know just how influential she would be until she gave birth at age 36 to her third son Michael, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome.

As Down syndrome is a cognitive disability, teaching and nurturing the development of a young child with the disability can be a demanding and, at times, arduous task.

Aryanti says she is lucky that the level of Michael’s handicap is much lower than many with Down syndrome, so his learning abilities – while slower than a child without the disability – are faster than those of many other children with the congenital condition.

Regardless, any degree of the disability makes life more difficult, and Aryanti knew there were many other parents in her position.

Not satisfied with remaining idle and waiting for someone else to offer her the support she needed, she set up meetings with other parents of children with Down syndrome, meetings that she eventually turned into ISDI, the Indonesian Down Syndrome Society, in 1999.

Now the chairperson for ISDI, one may wonder where she gets her drive, as looking after Michael must be exhausting in itself.

 “When your children are normal, you have high expectations for them, you can see the future, you can see what they will achieve. When your children have a disability, everyday they are surprising you, you could never tell they would be a winner, but suddenly they have this energy, this light from God, like a miracle,” says Aryanti.

That is when you know that everything you have done, every minute you have spent with them, is worthwhile, she goes on.

“It’s an amazing feeling, very humbling.”

Aryanti’s drive and positivity has also helped many other parents and their disabled children.

Before Aryanti’s vision, there were no support groups in Indonesia for those suffering with Down syndrome, nor an outlet for their parents to receive advice and support.

“They were dark times,” Aryanti says.

Aryanti and ISDI are providing well-needed support for an otherwise unnoticed minority in Indonesia , and are constantly hoping to do more.

One of the biggest issues for Aryanti is the lack of understanding of the disability, which she says comes from a lack of education.

“When people are nasty towards those with disabilities, it is because there is a lack of understanding.

My wish is to break down the barrier of ignorance, if people talk about it [the disability], know about it, then they will not only understand, they might want to help.”

To help remove the stigma from the disease, Aryanti’s recruited television personality Soraya Haque as an ambassador for the organization.

Other mothers at the center say that without Aryanti’s help and support in establishing the program, their lives would be very different now.

“It is very hard to be patient with them when you have no support. ISDI has changed my life because I now have the patience to help, and I have other patient people to help me,” says Ibu Nashita, whose child also suffers from Down syndrome.

Aryanti says however, that she is no hero.

“The hero is Michael, I don’t want to be the role model, I want him to be the role model, he’s the pioneer.”

One of the key points for Aryanti is that people realize sufferers with Down syndrome are not disabled.

“Yes, they have their handicaps, but they are able to do many things.”

As a parent, she said she always tried to allow her son to achieve goals, without being too pushy.

“Everything takes time, has a process, I just do my best to be optimistic and keep trying to do the same thing over and over again until it is perfected, until you have mastered your demons, or conquered your handicap.”

What are her dreams, her hopes for the future, after she has already achieved so much?

“All I want to do, all I strive for everyday, is just to make a difference.”

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/