AHED’s first project –The Centre for Disability Studies and Services

By Wendy Allen

Watch the 4-minute video about AHED’s first project at the State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga (UIN Suka) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Marion Steff spent a year there working with the staff and students in Centre for Disability Studies and Services to provide support the students with disabilities enrolled at UIN Suka. The activities to develop the Centre, to advocate for inclusive policies and practices at the university and to create networks with local, national and international organizations, have yielded significant results.

UIN Suka now has a well-functioning Centre with adapted computers and screen reading software, textbooks in e-book format, trained student volunteers, an inclusive admission policy and adapted exams. The Centre has created links with local universities and national organizations such as the Indonesian Blind Union and has been recognized by Enable, the UN’s organization for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the World Bank, which commissioned the Centre to conduct a study on disability and higher education in Indonesia. Read more in our projects section.

I interviewed Marion after she returned to Montreal and then used her photographs, excerpts from the Difabel News, a monthly newsletter she created while she was there to publicize activities and results, and stories of her experience, to create this report. The oral history and digital storytelling methodology provides an opportunity for the volunteer to tell her story and bring the experience to life. It also provides a brief multilayered summary of the project and addresses underlying issues that are relevant for all volunteers—expectations, fitting in, making a difference.