Let Me Introduce Myself
Hi, My name is Maureen Kartika, but my close friends call me Momo. I was born with a disability (I have a weak motor system so I use a wheelchair everywhere I go) and was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 10 years old. My scoliosis reached the point of 120 degrees, but I got scoliosis correction surgery in 2013 so now my scoliosis has improved to 70 degrees. I’m from Indonesia, and there was limited accessibility growing up. Despite my disability, I still went to school as usual, and I even got my bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2019. After that, I faced the real world. I really want to raise awareness about disabilities and prove it to people, especially in my country, that people with disabilities can be anything they want. We deserve to get the same chance in every aspect of life, from education to achieving our dreams.
Life After Graduation
After I graduated, I realized life is really hard, especially for people with disabilities in my country. Many people still hold the stigma that people with disabilities cannot do anything, which made it hard for me to get a job. I tried to apply to many companies, from the big, successful ones, to the start-ups (I thought they would be more open to equality for people with disabilities). Whenever I got a call from my application and then I told them that I was a wheelchair user (even though I already stated this on my CV), the process stopped immediately. Honestly, I almost gave up trying to find a job, so I thought to focus on a YouTube channel instead. When all hope was seemingly lost, I got a job at a start-up company. I was thrilled, but this didn't last long, because there was no accessibility in the building. I tried to speak to my boss about it, but after 5 months of trying to bear with the conditions, there was still no progress in terms of accessibility, so I decided to quit. The workspace in that building is on the 2nd floor, and there's no elevator, so my caregiver needed to carry me up the stairs every day, and also my colleague needed to carry my wheelchair up to the 2nd floor, and sometimes to the 3rd floor.
YouTube and Modeling
I decided to go back to my YouTube channel, share my story on it, and make my first beauty video. There are a lot of beauty content creators with disabilities in my country, but we just haven't got the spotlight. Besides that, I also applied for a job as a civil employee, and to my shock, I got accepted. Unfortunately, because life can be funny sometimes, Covid came into the world. My process of becoming a civil employee was put on pause for a while (it got postponed for a few months due to high risk of Covid). While waiting, I kept making videos on my YouTube channel, and I got a chance to be a model for a few local brands! I was so happy because a local brand began to get involved in raising equality awareness for disabilities.
Becoming a Civil Employee with a Disability
In 2021 I finally began working as a civil employee. Although I am not the first disabled civil employee, this was a huge achievement because it’s not easy to be a civil employee in my country. I work as an assessor, and I’m so glad because they treat me as an equal. I have the same desk job and also the same rights. I’m so glad because my colleagues are so welcoming and can see me for who I am. I also make content on social media, especially TikTok. I use my platform to raise awareness for disabilities and scoliosis. I hope I can be one of many to prove that we should eliminate the stigma around people with disabilities. People with disabilities also can be anything. I hope my platform can grow and raise disability awareness in Indonesia. Everyone deserves a chance to be what they want.
