“This wheelchair doesn’t ‘disabled’ my knowledge, experience and strong motivation to help others,” said Supriyadi. He is a former rescue team member of Indonesian Red Cross in Klaten District, Indonesia. Supriyadi involved in some emergency responses, including in 2006 Mount Merapi eruption, just before a big earthquake hit and affected his physical condition. “I was still in my Red Cross uniform when my house collapsed by the earthquake. I was buried underneath debris, got injured and became a person with disability,” Supriyadi told his story in front of the participants of INSARAG Asia Pacific Regional Earthquake Response Exercise on 25th-28th July 2016. Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) Indonesia & the Philippines facilitated representation of person with disability to involve in the event which was held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This aimed to develop strong awareness of disability inclusion in Search and Rescue (SAR) field.
ASB met Supriyadi for the first time while implementing community-based disaster risk reduction (DRR) program in Central Java. He is the founder of Spinal Court Injury (SCI) Community, a group consists of 2006 Earthquake survivors in Klaten District. He works as a staff in Muhammadiyah I High School and teaches 1st Aid extra-curricular. Currently, Supriyadi is also a volunteer member of Indonesian Red Cross.
During the event where representatives of 26 countries participated, Supriyadi spoke in several group meeting, including Emergency Medical Team (EMT), United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (UNDAC) and Humanitarian Country Team (HCT). He shared his experience in SAR team, his experience as an earthquake survivor and as a person with disability. Supriyadi encouraged participants to start thinking about disability inclusion in emergency response context. In the discussion with Gender and Diversity Division within the HCT, he also gave strategic inputs on how persons with disability can contribute in emergency response. Supriyadi suggested that persons with disability need to be involved in planning section within the official incident command system. He highlighted that persons with disability should be given opportunity to actively involve and meaningfully contribute in emergency response. (Rizma Kristiana)
