I am Hijrah
Saputra, first year student of master program in tourism and hospitality at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU). I am
also a graphic designer and from March 2018, I am taking the role of creative director for
the “Plushindo” project.
Plushindo is a
social project of a social enterprise, Fingertalk, to empower the often
marginalized and discriminated Deaf youths by training them to produce creative
products, such as plush toys of endangered animals, that are used to spread
awareness about animal conservation and inclusion. This project tackles issues
such as unemployment, discrimination against people with disability and animal
conservation in one creative solution, which made it very unique.
Currently,
Indonesia faces challenges of animals’ extinction due to habitat loss or
illegal hunting. Many of the animals, such as Javan rhino, anoa and Komodo
dragons, are endemic to Indonesia, and are forecasted to be extinct in the next
decade. I believe that we must act now, and we must start from younger
generation. Plushindo plushies are a way to spread awareness about the
importance and urgency of animal conservation to the younger generation using
attractive and fun mediums.
Due to discrimination in the society, more than 74%
of Deaf people in Indonesia are unemployed. Thus, through this project, my team
and I are trying to break the stigma and create employment. Moreover, I learned
to apply my skills and supported the Deaf to upgrade their skills, earn income
and provide for their family.
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| Plushindo Crews |
As the creative
director, I was in charge of the designing and training process. I designed six
different characters of endangered animals in Indonesia, which are orangutan,
Sumatran elephants, Javan rhino, anoa, and komodo dragon. Once I completed the
designs, I trained 20 Deaf youths to produce the plush toys or “plushies” based
on those designs. Together, we made more than 600 plushies and distributed them
to school children in six major islands in Indonesia.
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| The Characters |
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| The Characters and their habitat |
In addition to
that, I also designed a small book to accompany the plushies, providing
information about these endangered animals. I designed the books using language
that are simple and easy to understand. I also used Indonesian Sign Language
(BISINDO) in the book, so the children can understand more about the Deaf
culture. This initiative connected Deaf youths and the children, and raised
awareness since early age to hopefully eliminate discrimination against people
with disability in the future.
After the
production finished, I helped the team distributing the finished products
through educational workshop. We visited schools and introduced the Deaf youths
to the children, again, to raise awareness since young age. We used sign
language to explain why all of us should love the animals. Furthermore, these
plushies and books are also given as the token of appreciation to the
conservation sites of the endangered animals.
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| Plushindo goes to Riau, Pekanbaru |
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| Plushindo team teach Indonesian Sign Language (BISINDO) to the school children |
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| Plushindo goes to Pamulang, Banten |
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| Plushindo goes to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan |
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Plushindo goes to Poso, Central Sulawesi
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| Plushindo and WWF Indonesia |
Through this program, we have realized that the
training can be scaled up as employment opportunities for Deaf youths, which
led me to participate in Hult Prize competition. In December 2018, my team
and I brought this idea to enter the competition of Hult Prize, the biggest
social entrepreneurship competition in the world. We won APU campus round and
four months later, we became the only team that represented APU in Tokyo
regional summit. Our goal was to win the USD 1 million prize to train more Deaf
youths and create 10,000 jobs. We were chosen one of the six finalists and
received valuable feedback from the judges to scale up and create more
sustainable impact.
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| Plushindo team and New Zealand Embassador for Indonesia |
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| Plushindo Team with Mr. Deguchi, President of Ritsumeikan APU |
Last March 2019, Plushindo also won the Asahi Shinbun
SDG Action! Awards 2019, and became the first ever representation from APU to
win the competition. Our team received the grand prix prize of JPY 500,000 and
will utilize the fund to train more Deaf people in rural areas of Indonesia to
give them more opportunities and financial independence.
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| Plushindo won Grand Prix SDGs Daigaku Action Awards Asahi Shimbun Japan 2019 |
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| Plushindo Team with Chief of Asahi Shimbun Japan |
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| Plushindo team at Hult Prize Final Round in Regional Round Tokyo, Japan |
Through this project, I can see how our skill can
create bigger and more sustainable impact.
