Australian Embassy Introduces Inspirational Blind Woman

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia His Excellency Mr. Paul Grigson held a reception and musical recital on the evening of December 3, 2015, marking the International Day of people with disability in his official residence situated at Jl. Teuku Umar no.7, Central Jakarta, Indonesia.

The musical recital performed by the CEO of Arts Access Australia and President of Blind Citizens Emma Bennison which collaborated with the prominent Indonesian pianist Ananda Sukarlan was the program highlight of that evening.

Emma Bennison, the woman who is blind since birth, went to sing 2 songs in Indonesian language with Ananda Sukarlan accompanied her performance by providing an alluring sound of the piano he played next to her. After that, she sang 3 other songs whilst playing the piano which have been included in her album.

"It has been an amazing experience for the last one day or two, I really appreciate it," said Bennison before she started singing her first song in her album called ‘Monsters’.

The last song she sang called ‘Wind of Change’ symbolizes the efforts to make a change and to ‘make sure wind of change keeps going’ so that those who similarly suffer from disability know what to hold on to and stay motivated.

Theming 'access and empowerment for people of all abilities', the event has successfully prompted the need to deepen closer tie between Indonesia and Australia in establishing initiatives designed to empower and to continue giving unfailing support to people with disability and marginalized children.

In trying to translate its commitment to such helpful gesture, Australia has yielded 22 scholarships to Indonesians with disability to undergo a short-course program at Sydney University for the subject Organizational Leadership and Management Practices.