New Skills Helped My Business Recover From Pandemic

I’m Juanda Badaru. I live in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Previously, my friends and I, who all have disabilities, had difficulty finding permanent employment.

Business owners don’t trust our abilities so we couldn’t get proper jobs to make ends meet.

I graduated from high school and studied in college. Before the pandemic I was running a small motorbike repair shop. I earned IDR 3,000,000 (210 USD) per month. But when COVID-19 happened that went down to around IDR 1,500,000 (105 USD).

When I heard about some job training being offered to people with disabilities I signed up.

I learned all about the maintenance and repair of outboard boat engines.  I also had entrepreneurship training.

Both trainings were very useful for my business. When I re-opened the repair shop I was able to expand. 

I now have four people working at the repair shop, colleagues with disabilities and others I met at the trainings.

Before, we only worked on motorbikes, now we also work on boats with small engines. People call us regularly if they have trouble with their engine.

Now I earn more than before the pandemic - around IDR 4,000,000 (280 USD) per month.

The training also helped me manage money better: I have partnered with a big store that supplies us with spare parts for motorbikes and small boat engines. Before, I was afraid to partner with others, but after the training I was more confident.

Before, I was afraid to partner with others, but after the training I was more confident.

Around eighteen of my friends who have a disability joined the trainings.  Thankfully, they have found jobs now and have opened their own businesses or joint businesses with other participants.

We have formed an entrepreneurship WhatsApp group where we share our work experiences and support each other.

I’m very grateful for the trainings. This is the first time that people with a disability were involved in any kind of training where I live.

Fast facts

• Banggai Laut District located in Central Sulawesi consists of more than 280 small to medium-sized islands.
• To support the local economy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the ILO together with the NGO Yayasan Puter Indonesia and the Community for Maritime Studies Indonesia (CSMI) organized a series of trainings in September 2021 on entrepreneurship and the maintenance and repairing of small boat engines, with a focus on people with disabilities.
• The project partnered with two manufacturers of small boat engines, Honda Indonesia and Suzuki Marine Indonesia. 
• More than 120 participants from across the region completed the trainings.
• This activity is part of the Employment and Livelihood project funded by the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Multi Partners Trust Fund. The joint project between ILO, UNDP, UNHCR and UNAIDS aims to support women and vulnerable groups in Indonesia that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.