SOUTH TANGERANG — Tuberculosis patients seem to have various dilemmas in order to survive in the world of work. Not a few even have to quit until they are ostracized in their environment. This is certainly an important concern for Dompet Dhuafa as a health institution as well as a social institution for disadvantaged people. Various programs have been rolled out to help TB survivors, especially Drug Resistant Tuberculosis or DR-TB.
This time, Dompet Dhuafa collaborated with POP TB Indonesia and SETARA (Sebaya Tangerang Raya) to hold an economic empowerment and strengthening program for patients and families of DR-TB survivors. This program is in the form of MSME training through the Making of Salted Eggs, on Wednesday (7/9/2022), at Jl Cemara 2, RT 002 RW 001 no. 42, Kel. Pamulang Barat, Kec. Pamulang, South Tangerang. This is the second time this activity has been held after being held in Bandung and the third time planned in Jakarta.
A total of 13 participants took part in this training. Some of them were indeed RO TB patients, but some were represented by their families. In addition to training, participants will also continue to receive guidance on marketing, and will even be given a certain amount of capital for their business. The business capital is in the form of salted egg business equipment and 115 duck eggs per person to take home. Later, the results will be developed by the participants themselves.
Representing the SETARA Tuberculosis Survivors Organization (Sebaya Greater Tangerang) in Banten province, Erni Meliawaty said that this activity was part of a program to empower RO TB patients together with Dompet Dhuafa and POP TB Indonesia. The former RO TB patient felt very well how to get negative stigma in her place of work. Therefore, she reassured RO TB patients that they could recover like her and be able to get up as before.
“Maybe at this time the participants are still unfamiliar with this. But after learning a lot, they will know a lot and it will be easy to do. SETARA is grateful to Dompet Dhuafa and POP TB in this empowerment collaboration. I was also like them once. We hope that they will continue to be seen by the community and not be ostracized. Hopefully this will also be a new hope for them, the RO TB patients,” explained Erni.
Likewise, SO Layanan Kesehatan Dompet Dhuafa Parmuji Abbas also said that this was an effort by Dompet Dhuafa to improve the standard of living for RO TB patients. This is to provide skills for them so that they are not discouraged by the stigma they face. “The hope is that they will remain strong in their efforts to live their lives,” he said.
In this training, the speaker was a salted egg making expert from SETARA, Nurul Samini. She invited the participants to practice making salted eggs using two methods. The first is to soak them in salt water and the second is to wrap them in soil and ash mixed with salt water.
One of the participants, Yansah (40) from Pondok Kacang Timur urban village, Pondok Aren subdistrict, South Tangerang, Banten, said that he had been undergoing treatment for RO TB for 18 months. Currently, he has been undergoing treatment for 8 (eight) months at the South Tangerang Regional Hospital. He sometimes has to stop working as a motorcycle taxi driver because he is still undergoing treatment. Meanwhile, he has to support his wife and two children.
“Hopefully, by participating in this training, I can improve my family’s finances in the future. Insha Allah, I will develop this together with my wife at home,” he said. (Dompet Dhuafa / Muthohar)