Bagas Tells A Story from Yogyakarta about Resilience and Equality

In a quiet corner of a special school in Yogyakarta, a boy named Bagas holds a brush with confidence. He is not just another student-he is a young artist who makes the canvas a stage for the voices of the unheard. Bagas is deaf, and he speaks to the world through sign language and, just as powerfully, through painting.

The school where Bagas studies is part of the Disaster Safe Education Unit (SPAB) implementation programme. The programme strengthens the capacity of teachers as disaster preparedness facilitators, including for students with disabilities. In the classroom, Bagas and his friends learn about self-rescue measures in the event of a disaster, especially earthquakes that are prone to occur in their area.

However, Bagas’ understanding of disaster does not stop in the classroom. He translates it into art-a painting depicting six important points of self-rescue when an earthquake occurs. Through bright colours and clear details, Bagas explains what to do: from recognising early warning sounds, protecting your head, finding a safe place, to how to stay calm after the earthquake stops.

The painting became more than just a school assignment. It becomes a universal medium of communication, crossing the boundaries of language and hearing. In a world that sometimes forgets to listen to children with disabilities, Bagas shows that everyone can be an important messenger – if given the space and trust.

Teachers at Bagas’ school don’t just see him as a recipient of information, but as an actor of change. Through the inclusive approach in SPAB, Bagas has an equal opportunity to understand disaster risk and, more importantly, to be part of the effort to spread that knowledge.

Bagas is living proof that resilience is not just about physicality, but about how a person, with all their uniqueness, can contribute to the safety of all. He doesn’t ask for pity, he doesn’t need to be admired. He just wants to be heard-in his own way. And his painting has answered that perfectly.

In the midst of crisis, we often look for heroes. But in Yogyakarta, a boy named Bagas has shown that being a hero can start with one brush, one canvas, and one sincere intention: to save others.