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August 31, 2007

2007 ASIA TRY in KOREA

More than 100 people with disabilities from Asian countries are participating in "2007 ASIA TRY in Korea." It was started from Aug. 28 and will end on Sep. 3, 2007. This demonstration was purposely held at the same period of the 7th DPI World Assembly.
http://v1.dpi.org/lang-en/resources/details.php?page=810

The very first TRY was held in Japan in 1986. It aimed to advocate and appeal for barrier-free environment of railway stations in Japan. Japanese people with disabilities gathered and traveled together from northend to southend of Japan.

Now ASIA TRY is organized not only for friendly environment for persons with disabilities but also for changing the society for all.

You can see how they demonstrate
http://photo.media.daum.net/group1/general/200708/28/newsis/v17932306.html

Posted by jicafriends at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2007

From Shalika-Sri Lanka

Dear jicafriends

The Sri Lanka Council for the Blind, the Premier and Principal Organisation for the Welfare of the Vision Impaired Community in Sri Lanka (the organisation to which I am attached) is working towards making the Government of Sri Lanka recognise Braille as a medium of communication. We are interested in finding out what other countries have already accepted Braille a medium of communication in public administration and other matters pertaining to the average citizen.

Shalika

Posted by jicafriends at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2007

From Lyazzat-Kazakhstan

Dear jicafriends,

I presented my action plan to my organization. Now we're working on financial support for it. Hope we will find money by the end of this year.

Yesterday our organization and State Library for Blind organized a press conference about Parkhat (8th Duskin Leadership Trainee) and my study in Japan. It was held in this Library. There were 2 speakers (Parkhat and me), then 2 guests from Light House, Japan (Parkhat's friends), 2 TV channels, 3 newspapers and magazines, representative from Kazakhstan-Japanese Centre in Almaty and PDWs.
First, we described the programs we participated, then we answered questions showing some pictures and materials. And now all day long our TV channels are showing this press-conference.
As for me, I liked questions which were asked by PWDs. And we tried to explain that PWDs in different countries are the same, but policy, legislation and great effort of PWDs theirselves make their lives fullfil and equal.

Lyazzat

Posted by jicafriends at 06:22 PM | Comments (1)

August 20, 2007

Ten Participants for Leadership Development Course 2007

Ten participants for Leadership Development Course 2007 were selected at the second committee meeting on Friday night, August 17, 2007. The training program is going to start from September 25 and end on November 17, 2007.

We all look forward to seeing new jicafriends.

The secretariat of jicafriends

Posted by jicafriends at 05:59 PM | Comments (0)

From Sheraz-Pakistan

Konnichiwa and hello to jicafriends' secretariat

How are you? I hope you will be alright and busy in your work as usual. I am very sorry to hear about the earthquake in your country. We can minimize the effects but can not stop natural disasters.

Now I want to discuss the implementation of my action plan. I am sorry that I am behind the schedule because motivation and preparation of class room took longer than expected time.

On 13-07-07 a meeting was held with the president and he principally agreed to implement the action plan suggested by me. So on 08-08-2007 a detailed presentation was made to the staff of Care and Hope an NGO (Rehmat foundation).

Subsequently the classes for the rehabilitation of disabled are commenced at 10-8-2007 and 08 students are attending the classes.

I will remain in touch and will send you the progress reports prepared on daily basis and the photographs of the class activities.

Best regards

Sheraz Anwar Cheema (Vocational Rehab. Course 2007)

Posted by jicafriends at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2007

India floods: Orissa province – disabled people left out

The following information was downloaded from the mailing list of "Disability News India" with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Aqeel Qureshi.

In a survey conducted 15 days back, Youth Service Centre workers spoke with 3000 people living with disabilities in Balasore. Some are visually– impaired, several cannot walk, others have hearing impaired.

During heavy rains and floods, disabled people are among the hardest hit and benefit least from relief and rehabilitation efforts.

In response to the floods, the Orissa government plans to spread the safety net by stepping up provision of jobs under the National Rural Employment Guarantee programme. It has urged district and block level officials to issue job cards as soon as possible.

" Persons with disability are unlikely to get any benefit from this," says 35– year– old Pravin with disability, Boghrai village, Balasore. Pravin works with the Orissa Viklang Manch (Orissa Disabled Forum) of which Youth Service Centre, an ActionAid partner organisation, is a part.

Temporary shelters erected with plastic sheets and bamboo sticks do little to keep villagers safe, and even less for those with disability.

" While others may find it easier to move to more secure places like schools and government anganwadi centres during heavy rains, disabled people are often left behind," says Umesh Purohit of Youth Service Centre.

Emergency food kits are supplied without utensils or firewood which disabled people find difficult to procure. " It frustrates us to see that the government' s job ends at distributing dry rice. What are we to do without cooking material? How do we collect firewood amid this chaos?" asks Pravin.

Relief camps not for all
After heavy rains and floods that hit Balasore 15 days back, the government set up medical camps to examine patients.

" Those who cannot walk are unable to travel to the medical camp, disabled people who can make the journey, too often find themselves at the end of the queues. And those who cannot talk or hear find it difficult to communicate with the doctor and tell them about their condition," says Pravin.

Among disabled people, ActionAid partners also met with 300 children. Ramps to facilitate movement of disabled kids in village schools get destroyed during rains. So even as other children return to school, disabled children are forced to stay behind.Because of muddy paths and water logged roads disabled children feel further discouraged.

Latest from Orissa: Even immediate relief inadequate
Inland Orissa is bracing itself as the cyclonic depression over the Bay of Bengalthat caused heavy rains in coastal districts over the last few days (3– 7 August) has now moved to interior areas. Meanwhile local organisations in coastal areas say communities are still waiting for government relief.

Districts of Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Balipatna, Khurda, Puri, Jhajhpur, Balasore and Kendrapada are facing severe water logging. Fifteen persons have lost their lives, according to media reports. In Jhajhpur district alone, three hundred houses have been damaged or destroyed.

Slum dwellers in Cuttack
Reports say Cuttackis marooned with 300,000 people severely affected by the flood. The district received 45 centimetres of rain in the last three days.

An ActionAid team is assessing how slum areas in the city are coping. Along with residents, teams will make the local administration aware of badly– affected communities.

Balasore needs protection
In Balasore district, the state government has not yet repaired breaches in river embankments after floods hit the area 15 days back. Water rushed into four villages of Balasore district from the swollen VamsadharaRiverduring heavy rains since Friday.

While waters are now receding, Balasore remains at risk of flooding as long as embankments remain damaged.

Livelihoods hit
Thanks to intermittent flooding, the rice yield expected from affected villages is nil this year. Transplanting of paddy cannot happen in sodden fields for the next eight days.

" Water logging along the entire coast of Orissahas pushed back the agricultural cycle by eight days. Landless labourers will be without work for at least a week. Daily wage earners are the worst– affected by lack of agricultural activities," says Manas Ranjanof ActionAid.

Fifteen days back, the state government had distributed kits containing 15 kilos of rice, one litre of kerosene and a kilo each of dal and salt in 30 villages of Balasore. But nothing now.

" How can one– time aid by the government take care of recurring floods in the monsoon season?" asks Umesh Purohit of Youth Service Centre, an ActionAid partner organisation.

Purifying powder was also given to villagers then to disinfect open wells. But nothing has been supplied this time around.

" Water in open wells is now contaminated. Safe drinking water is not available to villagers. Health hazards like diarrhoea can strike anytime," says Umesh Purohit.

So far the state government has sought central government funds to rebuild roads. Local groups say the state is likely to take a month to calculate the number of damaged and destroyed houses.

" At least six months will elapse before the state government starts constructing new houses to replace damaged ones. Also, it has not promised any compensation money to affected villagers till now," states Umesh Purohit.

Source: www.reliefweb.int

http://www.disabilityindia.com/html/news.html#floods

Posted by jicafriends at 04:39 PM | Comments (1)

August 08, 2007

From Donna -Philippines

Love Conquers All

Indeed, love knows no bound. It conquers all.

This was proven true by six (6) couples of persons with disabilities, who, one memorable afternoon, chose to say “I do” to each other to solemnize their marriage vows - to cherish and to hold, to love and to serve, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do they part.

Witnessed and shared by families and friends, the mass wedding of six couples of persons with disabilities was just a testimony that persons with disabilities are no exemptions to love and to be loved. For persons with disabilities can choose to have their own families and raise their own children.

Love is not blind. Love sees it all - the limitations, the disability. But love just embraces it all.

The mass wedding was facilitated by the Association of Disabled Persons – Iloilo .

donnabelle – Philippines
Leaders Course 2005

Posted by jicafriends at 04:03 PM | Comments (1)

Workshop Yamadori

We would like to introduce you "Workshop Yamadori" today.

It was established in 1980 as a sheltered workshop for persons with intellectual disabilities .
Since then this workshop provides the summer vocational training courses for students from special schools every year.
Students can work together with members of Yamadori and learn not only vocational but also daily living skills.

Every morning students record the time when they arrive at the workshop.
They put on their name plate and start their work of assembling ball-point pens or giveaways.

Students work from 9:00 to 16:45 and punctuality is required just as the employed workers. Members of Yamadori work as instructors during this program period.
So both students and members can spend their summer time meaningfully.

This year the program started on July 21 and will end on August 15. 75 students can have a work experience there.
On the last day of work, students can receive their wages.
The network between the workshop and special school works very well and as a result many students gain confidence of their ability to work.

The secretariat of jicafriends

Posted by jicafriends at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)

Application for Leadership Development Course 2007

Dear jicafriends,

Urgent!

We haven't received no Application from the following countries: Indonesia, Nepal, Honduras, Chile, Colombia and Zimbabwe. And there aren't many applicants with visual impairments. Ten participants will be selected on Aug. 17, 2007.

If you know someone who is appropriate for the course, please give us email to the following address as soon as possible.
jicafriends@jicafriends.jp

The secretariat of jicafriends

Posted by jicafriends at 11:54 AM | Comments (3)

August 07, 2007

From Bing-quan-China

　

Dear jicafriends,

The last week I had finished the progress report. I don't know whether it fit JICA's requrement. And I want to sent the report submitted to CDPF (China Disabled Persons' Federetion) and the paper pubulished in a magazine named DISABILITY IN CHINA to JICA though it is still Chinese version. I will do my best to translate the paper into English and then sent to you, though, as you know, it is a little difficult for me to translate it into English.

Peng Bing-quan
(Ledership Development Course 2006)

http://jicafriends.jp/leaders/pdf/l2006finalchina0101.pdf

Posted by jicafriends at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)

TRAINING REPORT : Reflection Session

June 22, 2007:
Reflection Session

Ten participants discussed on "How to promote employment of persons with disabilities in their home countries" and submitted the following report.
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Creation of PWDs
JICA Tokyo, 15 May - 30 June 2007

Report of the Reflection Session

We started our session by talking about how to promote employment for PWDs in our countries. In this regard all of us felt that to start with it is very important to collect and maintain data on PWDs in our respective countries. So we all felt that it is important to collect information on the types of disability and socio-economic status of PWDs. There were differences of opinion on how to go bout collecting data - start big or start small. All of us recognized the difficulties in collecting good quality data and the cost involved in this. Since our discussion was just focusing on this issue for a long period we were lead to go on to discuss how we can promote employment of PWDs in our countries using the knowledge from this training.

It was highlighted that in Sri Lanka there are no big companies or open labour market as in Japan. So based on the knowledge we received it is possible to create networks with small companies to promote employment of PWDs. And it was also highlighted that self employment can be promoted among the PWDs by providing vocational training for them. It was also noted that Japan Sun Industries (JSI) was initially started as a small workshop.

One participant stressed the importance of collecting data of employers as well to see if they are willing to take PWDs as employees. And if so PWDs can be trained to match with the type of employment offered at those companies. The participant also noted the difficulty with promoting employment for people with intellectual disabilities rather than PWDs with physical disabilities. So it would be better to start off with we should be thinking about promoting employment of PWDs with physical disabilities.

The participant from Sri Lanka shared information on how they conducted a very successful job matching fair by inviting PWDs who have completed vocational training at the Department of Social Services and employers. During this fair employers came with information on their vacancies and interviewed PWDs and selected PWDs for their jobs. Out of the 87 PWDs who attended this fair 56 were employed. And it was interesting to learn that employers requested for such a fair but unfortunately the Department of Social Services did not have information of PWDs trained (or maybe did not have trained PWDs). Most of the participants liked this idea.

A participant noted that if all of us are from the government side it would have been easy to take measures to promote employment of PWDs. But another participant noted that even NGOs can advocate and pressure governments to take such measures.

One participant also noted that because employers and the general public do not understand the abilities of PWDs as employees that it would be very useful to provide such information using flyers and the media etc.

It was also noted that most of us had the understanding that PWDs with intellectual disability cannot be employed. However after the training we all believe in the employability of PWDs with intellectual disabilities.

One participant also highlighted that many NGOs conduct training for lots of PWDs but they forget about the ex-trainees when they complete the courses. For these ex-trainees it is important to have support services like job coaches/trial employment opportunities for them to be successfully employed after the trainings.

Some participants noted that some of the NGOs in their countries have good data collection on PWDs and employers by a voluntary registration process.

We were also told that some prominent universities like University of Tokyo is hiring PWDs with intellectually disabilities for cleaning.

One participant highlighted the importance of using PWD role models in educating the public on promotion of employment for PWDs. Some noted that it is hard to advocate when you do not have role models.

The importance of all of us communicating/networking after we go back on the developments in our countries and helping each other to effectively promote employment of PWDs was also noted.

As the situation of each of our countries is different self advocacy is a very important and a useful method in promoting employment of PWDs.

All of us found that this training course to be extremely useful and some of it very applicable to our own countries. And this experience has opened our eyes to the possibilities available for us to work in our countries to promote the rights of PWDs.

http://www.jicafriends.jp/vocational/gi2007/training/v062202.html

Posted by jicafriends at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 01, 2007

Report from Singxay-Laos

Dear jicafriends,

Sorry for very late sending you the Pictures of ICT training.
the pictures are included the Handover Certicate and Party ceremony
The training was very successful.

Best Regards,


Singxay Lor

Posted by jicafriends at 05:33 PM | Comments (0)

Report from Donna -Philippines

Reaching Boracay Island on a Wheelchair

The Sub-Committee on Accessibility of the Regional Committee for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, chaired by the Department of Public Works and Highways and with members coming from other line agencies, conducted an accessibility monitoring in the Island of Boracay, Malay, Aklan, Philippines. Boracay Island is one of the famous beaches and tourist destinations not only in the Philippines but in the whole world.

　　

It was such an unforgettable experience to reach the island aboard one’s wheelchair. Not minding the difficulty of traveling, the distance plus the scorching heat of the sun just to advocate for an accessible and PWD-friendly island.

Since the island is a tourist destination, it must be accessible to persons with disabilities. We monitored five (5) popular hotels in the island to check if they follow the provisions of the Batas Pambansa 344 otherwise known as the Accessibility Law. Some have accessibility features yet others fall short of the required standard and some simply failed to comply.

Despite all the odds, our advocacy efforts for an accessible and PWD-friendly Philippines will continue. Filipino Persons With Disabilities are all worth it.

　
　

donnabelle - Philippines
Leaders Course 2005

Posted by jicafriends at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)