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May 30, 2007
Report from Ghana
Dear jicafriends,
A JICA Volunteer is doing a good work. He is now considering how our poultry project could be re-established. He is very respectful and humble. I like working with him.
He is also smart to learning the local language. He can now communicate with our people in the local language. I hope that he will send you the report when he finishes. We have also shown him our new land that we got from the chief, and is yet to be developed.
How are you, my friends? I am doing well. Greetings to you all.
Michael Kweku Ocran
Posted by jicafriends at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2007
TRAINING REPORT - Lecture on Global Movement on Disability and Japanese Disability Policy
May 21, 2007 PM: Lecture on Global Movement on Disability and Japanese Disability Policy
by Mr. Ichiro MARUYAMA
The first lecture was on Global Movement on Disability and Japanese Disability Policy by Mr. Maruyama, Planning Committee Member and Course Leader.
Lecture Material: http://www.jicafriends.jp/vocational/gi2007/material/lecture/0521/index.html
Before the lecture starts, the participants visited the Shinjuku Ward Welfare Center for Persons with Disabilities adjoining to Toyama Sunrise and observed some activities carried out in this center for persons with disabilities.
In the beginning of the lecture, each participant wrote down on a white board how they say "persons with disabilities" in their local language.
Then they explained what it literally means.
Participant from Philippines writing on the white board how they call persons with disabilities in their language Participant from Kazakhstan on an electric wheelchair next to Mr. Maruyama explaining how they say persons with disabilities in their language a picture of white board with different expressions of persons with disabilities in each language
Mr. Maruyama explained the global movement on disability since the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons in 1975 till the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which was adopted in December 2006.
Before the end of the lecture, two videos were shown: "Emerging" by Canadian Rehabilitation Association and "Rehabilitation in Japan" by JSRPD. These contains a lot of animation and pictures and so they were easy to understand as well as very impressive.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/vocational/gi2007/training/v0521pm.html
Posted by jicafriends at 07:11 PM | Comments (0)
May 28, 2007
TRAINING REPORT - Program Orientation
May 21, 2006 AM: Program Orientation
Today is first day of the training program.
The program orientation took place to give general information on this training course priory to the first lecture in this afternoon.
Mr. Shuzo KATAISHI, Secretary General of Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD) welcomed the course participants and gave a brief explanation of JSRPD.
10 course participants from Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka introduced themselves and stated what they expected from this course. They are eager to gain a lot of knowledge and experiences from Japan and also from other participants.
Mr. Masaya ASAHI, Planning Committee member explained the flow of the training program by using a power point. Mr. Asahi sometimes asked questions to the participants and the program orientation was carried on in a relaxed mood.
This program orientation was held in Toyama Sunrise, a historical place where the rehabilitation first started in Japan, and it is also the first barrier-free accommodation in Japan.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/vocational/gi2007/training/v0521am.html
Posted by jicafriends at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)
Some news from Colombia
Hello Japanese Friends and Friends from Japan !
I hope you all are OK and doing well.
I was recently in a tour by southamerica playing some tournaments with very good results: I was champion in doubles second draw in Chile (partner from Brazil) and also in Argentina (partner from Spain), and got to quarter finals in singles in Florida Open (USA) and also in Chile, defeating in USA to player 97 of international ranking. (attached some photos)
One month traveling by southamerica and visiting nice places in Brazil because they cancelled their tournament at last moment. No complaints of course!
Now I'm in Colombia again working hard for the international tournament.. very hard to find sponsors but I'm working together with a Foundation that is also interested in work promotion for people with disabilities (so I shared with them all the info I got from Japan).
Volunteers network still dificult to organize and I'm not sure if I'm going to receive the support from JICA (I applied in March but not sure how it is going).
I got the promise of some financial support from ITF (International Tennis Federation) for national junior camp, planned to be held alogside the international tournament at least for 10 kids.
So I'll keep working on this and expecting the best from it (Tournament and junior camp are planned for August 2 - 5 and I expect to have 55 players: 40 nationals and 15 from other countries).
Wish you the best of luck in your projects.
Receive a warm hug from your Colombian friend.
FABIO PADILLA
Bogota, Colombia
Posted by jicafriends at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2007
Welcome to Japan!-Training Report for Vocational Rehab. Course
May 15, 2007: Arrival to Japan
All the participants for the JICA group training in 'Vocational
Rehabilitation and Employment Promotion of Persons with Disabilities'
arrived to JICA Tokyo. They are from 10 different Asian countries:
Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Philippines, Kazakhstan, and Nepal. These 10 participants will work
together for the next 6 weeks and their everyday training will be reported
here.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/vocational/gi2007/training/v0515.html
Posted by jicafriends at 06:01 PM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2007
Costa Rican vs. Japanese society: from a wheelchair user perspective.
Andrea Vargas Carmiol
(Leadership Development Course 2006)
I could not describe how wonderful was my experience in Japan. As a wheel chair user, I can say that Japanese people with disabilities have a very different quality of life from Costa Ricans. In the two months I stayed in Tokyo, I could go anywhere just by using the subways. In every station there were elevators, and different devices to get wheelchair users up and down. Every subway company has portable ramps, and they put them in the train when a person requests it. On the contrary, wheelchair users in Costa Rica cannot yet use an effective public transportation. Therefore, we are forced to use a taxi to go from one place to another. This situation limits our possibilities of recreation because taxis are extremely expensive. In Japan, there were accessible toilets and ramps everywhere. The concept of “Universal Design” (devices designed to be used for all people in society) is well-known and promoted; there were Braille language in all the places, talking devices and sign language when it was needed. In our country, we hardly find elevators and ramps in the buildings or even worse ramps are dangerous and elevators are not working. In general terms, Japanese people with disabilities have access to a good welfare; for instance, if they can not work because of their kind of disability, they receive two pensions; one from the municipality and another one from the national government which permits them to cover their basic needs. This social welfare includes also the payment of structural modifications in their homes, the cost of technical devices such as wheelchair batteries, chargers, crashes, etc. Regarding the welfare, the most outstanding advantage that I found there is that people with disabilities in Japan are paid their personal assistant. They have the right to get 24 hours of assistance for free if they need it. Each personal assistant has rights and responsibilities as any other worker. For a person with disabilities, having a personal assistant means his or her independence and participation in the community. On the other hand, people with disabilities in Costa Rica are still considered not capable beings for the society. In most of the cases, we are forced to live with our parents all the life because of the lack of real chances to be independent. The lack of job opportunities, accessible public transportation, and a friendly environment are strong limitations for Costa Rican people with disabilities to develop in our community. I conclude for what I found in Japan, that people with disabilities can change stereotypes if we demand our rights and work together to get them.
Posted by jicafriends at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2007
Message from Secretary General of United Nations on the International Day of Families-15 May 2007
The following information was downloaded from the mailing list of "Disability and Development" with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Soya Mori.
United Nations-Secretary General
The theme for this year’s International Day of Families is “Families and Persons with Disabilities”.
For many persons with disabilities, their family has been, and remains, a source of empowerment. For others, however, their family has perhaps been overprotective, restricting their growth as individuals.
Tragically, for others still, their family has viewed them with stigma or shame, and has even become a source of abuse and neglect.
In December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first human rights treaty of the 21st century. In its preamble, the Convention reconfirms that the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, and is entitled to protection by society and the State. It also states that persons with disabilities and their family members should receive protection and assistance so that families can contribute towards the full and equal enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities.
In Article 23 of the Convention, Governments agreed to protect persons with disabilities against discrimination in matters relating to marriage, relationships and the family. They also agreed to ensure the equal rights of children with disabilities with respect to family life, and to ensure that children with disabilities are not separated from their families against their will except when necessary for the best interests of the child. Should the immediate family be unable to care for a child with disabilities, Governments agreed to undertake every effort to provide alternative care within the wider family or, failing that, within the community in a family setting.
Society has a responsibility to persons with disabilities and their families. On this International Day of Families, let us dedicate ourselves to enabling the family, the most basic unit of society, to fulfill its role in ensuring that persons with disabilities enjoy full human rights and dignity, and flourish as individuals.
Posted by jicafriends at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2007
Vocational Rehab. Course 2007
Ten participants are going to arrive in Tokyo on May 15, 2007.
The training porgram is uploaded on the following page.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/vocational/gi2007/schedule.html
More information on the program will be provided soon.
The secretariat of jicafriends
Posted by jicafriends at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2007
International Exchange Programme in Ha Noi, Vietnam
Mr. Nguyen Hoai Duc from National Coordinating Committee on Disability of Vietnam kindly informed us the chenges of their program.
Please refer to .......
proposed agenda for June 2007 - EN 04 April
Posted by jicafriends at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)
Golden Week-Japan
In Japan we are now in the middle of Golden Week. We are sure that many Japanese tourists enjoy their holidays in jicafriends' country.
The Golden Week is a collection of four national holidays within seven days. In combination with well placed weekends,
Four national holidays are as follows:
April 29: Showa Day
The birthday of former Emperor Showa.
May 3: Constitution Day
A national holiday remembering the new constitution, which was put into effect after the war.
May 4:Greenery Day
Until 2006, Greenery Day was celebrated on April 29, the former Emperor Showa's birthday, due to the emperor's love for plants and nature.
May 5:Children's Day
Also called boy's festival.
The secretariat of jicafriends
Posted by jicafriends at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
Report form Ghana
Michael, a former Ghanaian participant of Leaders' Course 2004 is now working with JICA Volunteer and he sent us the following report and his condolence on his good friend, Justine.
Thank you for given us JICA vulonteer.
He has arrived and has gotten a teacher who is teaching him our local language.
After that we will all sit down and draw the programme for the year.
We will give you the report after drawing the programme.
So continue to help us stand on our feet.
I have head about the death of Mr.Justino Joao Januario from Mozambique so am sending my condolence to the family and the 2004 participants.
Thank you and you will hear from me.
Michael Ocran
Posted by jicafriends at 09:58 AM | Comments (0)