Our Students
BPSW supports over 20 social work students by sponsoring their education through full-tuition scholarships. Below are a few stories from some of our students.
Budi Prasojo is a BPSW Tien Gosana scholar who just completed his Masters of Science in Social Work at STISIP Widuri. He has worked at Rawinala, an educational and social service program for children with multiple disabilities, for many years, and is currently the director of the school and the Assistant Director of the agency. He developed individual and group programs for the families of his young clients, and he also received, through Rawinala, international training in the specialized issues surrounding working with families of the disabled. On his own initiative, he establishing a group home for older disabled adults with no families. As his passion is teaching, he also trains public school teachers in mainstreaming in the province of Aceh.
Mara Yirmiyati is a graduate of STISIP Widuri with a Bachelor's degree in Social Work, thanks to a Tien Gosana scholarship from BPSW. She now works for Family Planning of Indonesia, providing outreach services to young women working in markets, many of whom live far from their families, practice unsafe sex, and are at-risk of HIV and other STDs. Mara was featured on the Social Work Practice Center website for her work distributing informational brochures encouraging women to use a new clinic located at the market, which provides reproductive health care services at no cost.
Agus Riyanto is currently working for Low Vision Jakarta, focusing on the promotion of low vision services as part of programs at the Health Ministry. The intent is to provide vision services in hospitals distributed in every province in Indonesia. He is also advocating low vision programs as part of the curriculum in the Academy of Optometry in Indonesia, and he is implementing training programs in this field for inclusive education for specialists, teachers, and volunteers.
Agus is in the process of writing a guide book of low vision services for the Social Affairs Ministry (DEPSOS), and a masters thesis on the need for assessment in people with visual impairments. Besides his work in low vision programs, Agus is part of the advisory board for the Alliance for Community Based Rehabilitation and he is head of the training unit for community empowerment of the Christian Church in Indonesia.
Khausar was born in Peulumat, Labuhanhaji Aceh Selatan and he is currently studying at the S2 social work program at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Jogyakarta. Most recently, Khausar has been working in the assessment of 'difable' (People with Different Abilities) students and providing direct intervention for such students. Prior to this, he provided training and capacity building for youth and children in Lhong, Aceh Besar district. He also contributed to a tsunami program for the recovery and improvement of women's and children's welfare, and collected data for the building of a library for children in the Aceh Tenggara district.
Veronica Juwaryanti, a GTA Travel scholar, works in the field of HIV/Aids, a problem of increasing proportion in Indonesia, particularly in Jakarta, Papua, and Ambon. She is working for a not for profit agency, Tegak Tegar, which pioneered community-based case management services for people with HIV. Veronica is a case manager and trainer for Tegak Tegar. She has a particular interest in working with families, and has personally fostered children orphaned because of HIV in the family. She is currently attending STISIP Widuri and is in her second year, pursuing a bachelor in social work. Tegak Tegar is known for creating group programs in positive prevention of HIV. The agency uses trained volunteers to reach out to the community, many who also have HIV. Daily activities include counseling for HIV/AIDS positive individuals, running the prevention programs, as well as running the shelter for children with HIV/AIDS. Tegak Tenar also provides training for volunteers in relation with HIV/AIDS prevention.
Baihaqi S. Sos is studying at the Master's Social Work program at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yokyakarta. Most recently, he worked as the program manager of Lembaga Pengembang Ummat (LPU). Prior to this, he was a part of the SATGANA Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) team in Banda Aceh, and was assigned to be a member of the Assessment team at Balee Ureun Inong Aceh.
