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December 31, 2007
Message from The Secretariat of jicafriends.
Another year is coming to end. The year 2007 saw more active information
sharing from jicafriends in the world. We will continue to make improvements
and offer a mutual space for information and opinion exchange in the coming
year.
Posted by jicafriends at 11:31 PM | Comments (1)
December 27, 2007
Good news from Shalika-Sri Lanka
Dear jicafriends,
Soon Sri Lankan PWDs too will have a special Identity Card which they may use to make avail of many facilities. The Sri Lanka Council for the Blind is happy to announce that their proposal was accepted and approved by the National Council for Persons with Disabilities this week.
Shalika Karunaratne
Member - Executive Commitee - SLCB
Past Participant - Leaders Course
Posted by jicafriends at 10:42 AM | Comments (2)
December 26, 2007
Newsletter from United Voice-Malaysia
Swee Lan from former participant of Vocational Rehab. Course 2006 sent us the following information on the latest newsletter of her organization. Their voices always encourage us and empower a lot of persons with intellectual disabilities.
Dear friends and associates,
NEW! United Voice's newsletter(november edition) is out!
You can go to our website http://www.unitedvoice.com.my to download the PDF file.
Some of the articles in the newsletter includes:
- UV's participation in the UNESCAP worskshop on Empowerment of People with Intellectual Disability held in Shanghai.
- The 2nd National Self-Advocacy Conference held in Sabah.
- BEAT Team working together with AirAsia.
- GIANT's employment of persons with learning disabilities.
We are also please to annouce that we have a stall at 1-Utama shopping complex. We are located at New Wing, 1st Floor Highstreet at the Community Corner Stall. We will be there from 30th Nov 2007 until 2nd January 2008. Please do drop by and pay us a visit at our stall.
Thank you
Regards,
United Voice Team
Posted by jicafriends at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
December 25, 2007
Report from Rama-Nepal
Namaste
I am Rama Dhakal from Nepal ex participant of vocational rehabilitation course 2007.
According to my Action plan I am succeeded to convience one of the computer institute to give computer training for 3 women with disabilities. Three of them are physical, deaf and blind.
The training is going to start very soon. Sorry for delay due to my country situation.
Thanking very much.
.
Rama dhakal
nepal
Posted by jicafriends at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
FELIZ NAVIDAD Y UN FELIZ AÑO NUEVO 2008
FELIZ NAVIDAD Y UN FELIZ AÑO NUEVO 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for the whole dedicated fondness.
Very much success in his work.
An embrace for the whole team JICA
Soon email for action plan.............
With affection
Lilian of Chili
Posted by jicafriends at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)
COLOMBIAN PROJECT - Final Report
Hello Japanese Friends and Friends from Japan !
I hope all of you are doing well and be near your loved ones for this time of the year.
After more than one year of hard work I can finally say that the projects stated in my Action Plan of Leadership development course in Japan are done. Please see attached some pictures.
INTERNATIONAL WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TOURNAMENT
- The first ever International wheelchair tennis tournament, part of NEC Tour of ITF (International Tennis Federation), was held in Cali, Colombia from December 13 to 16 with great success
- 5 countries competing: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile and Colombia
- Participants from 12 cities of Colombia also attending the event
- 11 Children with disabilities from 5 cities participating in the first ever NATIONAL JUNIOR CAMP for wheelchair Tennis development. 5 tennis wheelchairs (junior size) donated and Junior event thanks to Johan Cruyff Foundation support
- Still some challenges with accessibility but through this event many people were aware of that needs and are willing to press local government and national sport entities to solve this in the near future. Next year Cali will play host to National Paralympic games and another World competition regarding disability, so we are very positive about the improvements in accessibility around the city. Our main need on this was transportation, unbelievably there's no accessible bus in the whole city. We are pressing a lot to make this change. A new massive transportation system called MIO, very similar to Transmilenio in Bogota will certainly be the first step towards this new perspective on accessibility
- Many volunteers helped and gave us important support during the event: 3 coaches for National Junior Camp were volunteers and did a fantastic job of motivation with kids (William Gabalan from Medellin, Jose Salamanca and Edgar Pinzon from Bogota). We also had the support of boys scouts and students from I.E. Boyaca school to help organization and overcome obstacles with lack of accessibility in transportation. A father of a girl participating in tournament was in charge of "Repair station" to help many players fixing their chairs with diverse problems. Andrea, daughter of Sigifredo Hidalgo (Tournament Director) was also helping us a lot with registration and other processes related with control of participants
- I contacted to NEC Colombia, Colombian branch of Japanese multinational which sponsored the entire world tour of wheelchair tennis. They were surprised a little bit at the beginning but very happy to gave us also some sponsorship and traveled to Cali to be at the closing ceremony
- An agreement with Ecuador was announced to all participants to have in 2008 consecutive international tournaments in these neighbor countries. So they will have their tournament in the last week of November and Colombia will be at the first week of December. That way more international players can come incurring in less expenses for traveling
- Based on work of Sigifredo in previous years many other sponsors gave us different contributions that in a whole make us able to have a high quality event. We know we have to keep working hard to improve it... but we certainly know that we are in the right path
- Maybe the most important thing to highlight for this successful event is the team work, besides the many volunteers involved I have to thank the support and work of: FUNDACION ARCANGELES (Juan Pablo Salazar, recent participant of sports course is the president), CLUB DEPORTIVO RUEDAS MAGICAS (Ivan Anzola, recent participant of sports course is the president) and FUNDACION NUEVOS HORIZONTES which usually helped Sigifredo with other paperwork and processes related with tournament.
VOLUNTEERS NETWORK
- As I explained in prior email, in a meeting with JICA Colombia representatives; we decided to change perspective of this project taking advantage of the massive presence of people with disabilities in the international tournament, so we organized a Conference and banquet to cause a greater impact with my message of Volunteerism and Disability and using less resources
- The conference title was: VOLUNTEERISM AND DISABILITY Challenges and opportunities for Colombia, and was held in Hotel Intercontinental, one of the best in Cali
- Despite some troubles with weather (very rainy days), some delays in tournament schedule and slow mobility due to heavy traffic in Cali ... we did a great event with around 100 very motivated participants, almost 50 volunteers from different cities officially registered in the data base and optimistic participants expecting good opportunities for integrated work through this network
- A lawyer, first time in the tournament, from Pasto (one of the cities originally included in my plan) offered his expert advice regarding disability and legal issues and even announced legal advice for free to kids.
- A journalist with visual impairment with some colleagues attended the conference and registered as volunteer
- Representatives of an institution for persons with mental disabilities also participated
- Ecuadorian participants were very surprised about JICA opportunities in courses regarding disability, they asked some questions and declared their interest in promote these opportunities with JICA in their country. They were also very motivated to start new projects to improve PWDs conditions and options in Ecuador
- To emphasize opportunities of courses and projects with JICA; I invited Ivan Anzola, recent participant of sports course in Japan, he showed us several pictures of his trip and experiences and express his intention to promote short tennis and other sports in Colombia.
- Besides promotion of volunteerism, I emphasized the way PWDs in Japan started many of their present programmes and rights based on initial volunteer job. Specifically I talked about Job promotion system, Independent Living Concept (Self Help Organizations, Advocacy and Equals support) and also the Universal design concept
- Many questions and comments from participants about the Japanese experience and conference topics
- Finally I explained the Colombian web pages related with volunteerism and resources available and also the objective of this project to be the seed for a greater network of volunteers working on disability issues
- I also showed web pages of www.lesionmedular.org and www.discapacidadcolombia.com, which are our partners to be the information centrals for present and future volunteers who register in the system. Still we need to put the data base on line and explain a little bit more in the web page about how we expect this network to work for the future
- Mainly I explained the V2V (Volunteer to Volunteer) concept and resources, which means that PWDs and volunteers in general don't need and institution or entity telling them what to do but instead of that; take action on their own and start proposing new initiatives and projects integrating volunteers from this very initial data base, and of course, making the network to grow
- If budget is enough I will organize a similar conference in Bogota on next January but focusing more in disabilities other than physical, and also inviting important actors of volunteerism in Colombia to integrate effectively these 2 wonderful worlds
- This is an initial step on formation of this Volunteers Network but I'm very positive about it. With the work and support of all these people I'm sure it will be a useful resource for many upcoming projects that change lifes of people with disabilities in Colombia.
Thanks a lot to JICA and Japanese people for their teachings and support.
I wish the best in New Year to all of you. Peace, love and happiness for everyone !
Best Regards,
FABIO PADILLA
Ex-participant JICA Leadership course
Bogota, Colombia
Posted by jicafriends at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)
Media empowerment for the disabled in Laos
Visit link below
Mr. Singxay
ICT Training for people with visually impaired.
Laos
Posted by jicafriends at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)
may God bless you all
Dear and beloved friends,
may God bless you all, I hope 2008 would be a great year. May God heals all the scars and painfull things in our hearts, but letting us to achieve wisdom. The picture is of my pet dog, his name is Elvis Tadeo. He is a pug dog, he is in his "angel mode" hahaha.
Well, I wish you the best
from Chile with love
Carlos
Posted by jicafriends at 03:34 PM | Comments (0)
From Lao Disabled People Association
Dear All Jica Friends,
LDPA = Lao Disabled People Association
HIB = Handicap International Belgium( office in Vientiane capital, Laos.)
I am Khamsone LOKHAM Mr. Former
[Vocational Rehab. and Empoyment Promotion of persons with disabilities year 2007]
For your information.
After I have returned to my home country by end of June06
Ihad been invited by the HIB to participate the workshop of employment opportunity for PWDs in my city Vientiane on Aug14,07.
For EO project was organized by HIB and LDPA is the partnership,
Project Start: Jan2008
Target group and benificiary: PWDs and poorest, lacking access to services, education, training and employments.
Target area/benificiary: Vientiane Capital (668) and Vientiane Province (885).
plus with 14 self-help group (140 members)
Period project: 2008-2010
fro more detail I will inform Jicafriends by next month once the project start.
Thank you for your kind attention.
With bet regards
Merry Chrismas/Happy new year.
Khamsone LOKHAM
Posted by jicafriends at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)
Mery christmas and Happy new year 2008
Dear all my friends
ME RY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008
is coming soon
I wish all of you have a good luck and happiness, successfully with your life all the year 2008
I'm continue to work at HIB (Handicap international Belguim)
Love and thinkof all of you forever
Love and high Regards
khemphone Thongsythavong
Posted by jicafriends at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
Compliment Of the Season
Dear Friends,
The CCoDP wishes you a Marry Christmas and a very properous and happy 2008 !
Raja Marasinghe
- Chairperson, Central Council of Disabled Persons (CCoDP)
Posted by jicafriends at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2007
To all JICA Friends-Donna from Philippines
Merry Christmas!
2007 is really a year to remember as far as the sector of persons with disabilities in the asia pacific region is concerned. We know that we have done our part to raise our sector a little higher from where we were in the past. Somehow giving hope to our fellow persons with disabilities especially those in the grassroots level.
With fervent hope and prayer that 2008 will be more prosperous for all of us. May we be filled with hope as we work and wait for the realization of our big dreams for the PWD sector. May we continue our commitment despite the challenges ahead of us.
May God continue to bless the JSRPD for your untiring commitment to persons with disabilities particularly those in the asia pacific region. Thank you for making a great difference in the lives of persons with disabilities, for serving as bridge for us to reach each other and for us to dream and work together for the common good.
Looking forward to a more committed and united persons with disabilities.
Let us continue to DREAM BIG... they will soon come true.
Again, Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to ALL!
GOD BLESS US ALL!
donna - Philippines
Posted by jicafriends at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)
USAID grants 95,000 dollars to support Disabled Sports
We found the following information about USAID. It was downloaded from the mailing list of "Disability and Development" with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Soya Mori.
GNA | Posted: Thursday, December 20, 2007
The Sports Wing of the Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) has received a grant of 95,000 dollars from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) towards organizing a national basketball competition.
The grant will also go towards the procurement of equipment including modern wheelchair basketball chairs for men and women’s teams, hand-bikes, helmets, bikes for single leg amputees for their cycling programs, jerseys and a training program in the maintenance of the chairs.
Mr Abdul-Aziz Mohammed, Chairman of GSPD Sports told the GNA Sports that the competition would be used to select talented men and women to form the national wheelchair basketball teams to adequately compete in international competitions.
He explained that the grant which falls under the USAID’s Sports Diplomacy Initiative seeks to advance the mission policy of inclusion for people with disabilities.
Mr Mohammed expressed gratitude to the government and people of USA for their generosity and gave the assurance that the grant would be used towards the development of disabled sports in the country.
The Chairman said the society will ‘take full advantage of this rare opportunity to develop general sports for the disabled and urged many of the disabled in the communities to join hands with the Society to lead fruitful lives instead of earning a living through begging on the streets.
http://www.accra-mail.com/mailnews.asp?id=3536
Posted by jicafriends at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2007
Information from USAID
USAID has been advocating for and working toward fuller inclusion of people with disabilities in our foreign policy and development efforts.
http://www.usaid.gov/about_usaid
USAID Disability Access Policy
http://www.usaid.gov/about_usaid/disability/
In support of these efforts, USAID announced to Missions and Washington Offices the availability of funds to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities within its development activities. Qualified U.S. or non-U.S. entities, such as private, non-profit organizations (or for-profit companies willing to forego profits), including private voluntary organizations, disabled persons organizations, universities, research organizations, professional associations, and relevant special interest associations are eligible to submit concept papers to participating Missions USAID Missions within the field and USAID Washington Operating Units (WOUs) (ie Regional or Technical Offices and Bureaus that are headquartered in Washington D.C. such as Democracy and Governance Office, Global Health, Economic Growth and Trade, among others).
The announcement given to USAID Missions and WOUs outlined the broad funding objectives of: :
a) increasing inclusive development programs and practices within USAID Missions and WOUs;
b) strengthening the capacity disabled persons organizations (DPOs) to promote inclusion and equality; and
c) supporting data collection and/or assessments that will assist USAID Missions and WOUs to improve the inclusion of people with disabilities in future programs, policies or practices.
USAID missions and WOUs have been invited to identify suitable local partners and solicit aplications for assistance.
Please note the following:
· Missions and WOUs will solicit proposals from and/or consult with potential implementers (i.e., Disabled People’s Organizations, NGOs, etc.) in preparing concept papers. Concept papers can only be submitted through participating, individual Missions or Washington Operating Units. Not all Missions or WOUs may choose to participate in this process.
· The deadlines for submission of concept papers will set by the relevant participating Missions or WOUs. Once concept papers are submitted, the Mission or WOU will review and select concept papers based upon the selection criteria that were outlined in notification.
USAID Missions or WOUs may choose to expand the selection criteria as appropriate to their work and funding interests.
· Concept papers generally should be no more than 10 pages, however, offices and Missions may request that they be shorter in length. A concept paper ceiling of $300,000 was also provided in the notification. Note that a more robust proposal and/or a lower funding ceiling may be requested by the Mission or WOU.
· Missions and/or WOUS will submit their selected concept papers to a Review Committee in Washington DC which will make final selections for funding keeping in mind a thematic and geographical distribution.
Please contact USAID Missions or WOUs to see if they are participating in this Request for Concept Paper process and for additional information.
http://www.usaid.gov/contact.html
Posted by jicafriends at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)
UNITED NATIONS RENAMES INTERNATIONAL DAY
UNITED NATIONS, 19 DECEMBER -- Yesterday afternoon the United Nations General Assembly renamed the International Day of Disabled Persons, observed every year on 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The 192 Member States of the General Assembly took that decision unanimously when adopting a resolution on "Implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons: realizing the Millennium Development Goals for persons with disabilities". The Assembly also called on United Nations agencies and bodies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and protection of the environment to ensure that the disability perspective is incorporated in their work.
In a related development, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is now six ratifications away from coming into force. It was ratified by Mexico on 17 December, by El Salvador on 14 December and by Nicaragua on 7 December. Twenty ratifications are needed to bring the
treaty into force. For information, see http://www.un.org/disabilities/
Posted by jicafriends at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2007
Govt to Continue Supporting Disabled Persons - Goche, Zimbabwe
A participant from Zimbabwe attended to Leadership Development Course this year and his action plan is related to employment promotion for persons with disabilities.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/pdf/l2007interim1001.pdf
Today we found the following information from the mailing list of "Disability and Development."It was downloaded with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Soya Mori.
Published by the government of Zimbabwe, The Herald (Harare) 10 December 2007
Bindura Bureau, Harare
MINISTER of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare, Cde Nicholas Goche said the Government will continue providing vocational training to equip disabled persons with necessary skills that enables them to secure decent employment in any sector.
This year's theme to commemorate the International Day of the Disabled is "Decent work for persons with disabilities" and seeks equalisation of opportunities in the employment sector for people with disabilities.
In a speech read on his behalf by the social services deputy director in the ministry, Mr Togarepi Chinake last week, Cde Goche said comprehensive efforts by Government, non-governmental organisations and the society were needed to provide decent employment for disabled
persons.
"Disabled persons are often employed in low paid jobs like basket weaving or are a common sight as beggars on the street. This offers little, if any social, and legal security and often segregates them from main stream, market labour.
"I therefore urge all interested parties to come up with programmes geared towards rescuing the disabled persons from dependency by enabling them to become self sufficient," he said.
The minister said the Government had shown its commitment in providing funds to the disabled person's funds and this year alone a total of $7 billion was allocated to the fund with 49 projects being approved and spread across all sectors.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712100146.html
Posted by jicafriends at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : Lecture : JICA Volunteers
November 15, 2007 :
Lecture : JICA Volunteers
Since a program on “JICA Volunteers” was introduced in this training many former participants are now interested in requesting JICA volunteers to their organizations.
Actually a former participant of Leaders Course 2004 requested a junior volunteer in the field of community development and now the volunteer was dispatched to his organization to work with persons with disabilities in Ghana.
Today Ms. Hiroko Irumata came to explain about JICA volunteers to ten participants. She showed the data related to JICA volunteers working in their respective countries. As the same as previous years, most of the participants of this year did not know about JICA volunteers. Now they know what kinds of professions and skills JICA volunteers can transfer to their countries and the procedure from request to dispatch.
People is a resource. Build a network between former JICA participants and JICA resources, and their respective activities can be improved. Let's all work together for better quality of life of persons with disabilities in the world!
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1115.html
Posted by jicafriends at 01:04 AM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : Presentation Ceremony
November 9, 2007:
Presentation Ceremony
Right after participants arrive at JICA Tokyo, the secretariat interview the participants and one of the questions is related to a wheelchair. We ask each participant if he/she would like to bring a used wheelchair back to his/her home country.
This year all the participants who use wheelchairs or need wheelchairs whenthey travel long distance answered “yes!”.
The secretariat dialed Friendly Life Community (FLC) to ask for collection of seven used wheelchairs and then students of Kanagawa Institute of Technology, who belong to Wheelchair Repair Circle (KWR), fixed and conditioned them. Both FLC and KWR are located in Zama City which is about one and half hour drive away from JICA Tokyo.
After the lecture a presentation ceremony was organized to hand over seven wheelchairs to the participants. Mr. Shotaro YAMAGUCHI from FLC and three students from KWR had to use two cars to bring seven wheelchairs to JICA Tokyo. They even rented one car for it.!
There are many countries, where majority of people have never seen a wheelchair. In such situation, people who have mobility difficulty are forced to stay in a house without receiving proper education or any other opportunities to participante in a society. The participants will bring back a wheelchair not for their own use but for other people in need of wheelchair. These wheelchairs given today will go over the oceans and will change the life of persons with disabilities in other countries.
Special thanks to Friendly Life Community and Kanagawa Institute of Technology!
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l110902.html
Posted by jicafriends at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2007
Report from Singxay-Laos
Dear jicafriends,
I am now managing the Braille text book production making for blind people in Laos. Next month we will go to Savannakhet and Xiengkhuang Province to promote education and ICT for the blind people.
Regards,
Posted by jicafriends at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2007
'Sign language has its own local characteristics'-Malaysia
The following information was downloaded from the mailing list of "Disability and Development" with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Soya Mori.
KUALA LUMPUR: Sign language for deaf people is not a homogeneous language code. It has its own language characteristics based on culture, religion and geography.
Malaysian Federation of the Deaf (MFD) president Mohamad Sazali Shaari said that similar to English and Bahasa Malaysia, every deaf community from different parts of the world has its own way of signing in its daily communication.
In Malaysia, we have to explain to others that the sign language is also Bahasa Malaysia, not some strange language," he added.
He was speaking at the Deaf, Sign Language and Culture Conference 2007 here yesterday, using sign language as a means of communication with the audience.
In September, the MFD submitted a memorandum to parliament, asking for the recognition of the Malaysian Sign Language, known as the MySL, as the official language for the deaf in Malaysia.
Yesterday, MFD's conference focused on oralism, an education of deaf students using spoken language, discrimination against deaf or hard of hearing people, and the medical perspective of hearing impairment.
World Federation of the Deaf former president and honorary member Dr Yerker Andersson, who also attended the conference, said the social perception of the deaf was one of the many problems faced by the community.
"Is a deaf person a disabled person? They can move freely, they can hold jobs, they can communicate either through sign language or writing. But due to political reasons, the deaf still have to use the term 'disability' to get access to telecommunication such as video phones,
public meetings, entertainment and religious events as well as for medical examinations.
"The deaf community has faced numerous obstacles which vary from tolerable to intolerable, depending on political, social and religious changes, but thankfully it is declining in most countries, thanks to the United Nations declarations on human rights," he said through sign language.
The conference was held as a platform for the community to share its experiences and learn more about the deaf culture.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/2104208/Article"
Posted by jicafriends at 03:20 PM | Comments (0)
Bangladesh ratified UN Convention on 30th November 2007
The Government of Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh has finally ratified UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 30 November 2007.
Best regards,
vashkar
Posted by jicafriends at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
December 06, 2007
TRAINING REPORT : Presentation : Action Plan
November 14, 2007 :
Presentation : Action Plan
Today ten participants presented their Action Plan. Each participant had 30 minutes for their presentation (5 minutes for preparation, 15 minutes for presentation, 10 minutes for Q&A). They explained what they learned from the training program in Japan and what they were planning to do upon their return to their countries.
Among the audience were three people from the Nippon Foundation and Mr. Miyamoto from DPI-Japan and they gave the participants many feedbacks. Also three planning committee members, three JICA officers, two JICE coordinators and three JSRPD staff were present. Mr. Yamaguchi, planning committee member, who unfortunately could not participate today had sent his comments and we also shared them after all the presentations.
The following is the title of each Action Plan. Please click the title to read the full text.
The Japanese side could understand what the participants learned from this training and how it helped them create a plan for their future activities.
However it is certain that the impacts of this training is more than what they presented in short time today. We wish them all the best in their future activities to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in their home country.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1114.html
Posted by jicafriends at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : Workshop : Final Check of Action Plan
November 13, 2007 :
Workshop : Final Check of Action Plan
By Ms. Sarajean ROSSITTO
This was the third and last day with Ms. Sarajean Rossitto and also it was one day before the Action Plan Presentation.
Firstly the participants worked in pairs to check their presentation outlines and give feedbacks to each other. Then they had a presentation practice in front of the group. Just like the real situation, each presenter had 15 minutes and the time was noticed three minutes before and also when the time was up. Some finished before the time and others could not finish within the time. The rest of the participants checked whether all items were covered in a presentation and also gave comments on good points and points to be improved. Ms. Rossitto reviewed their written drafts and gave comments to each. All the feedbacks were valuable and useful as they could make improvements to their action plan.
In this afternoon the participants worked individually to complete their action plan and prepare for the presentation tomorrow.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1113.html
Posted by jicafriends at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : Visit to Yamano College of Aesthetics and Lecture on “Aesthetics and Welfare for Persons with Disabilities”
November 10, 2007 :
Visit :
Yamano College of Aesthetics
Lecture :
“Aesthetics and Welfare for Persons with Disabilities”
Yamano College of Aesthetics is unique in combining the aspects of aesthetics and welfare, with its aim to improve the quality of life of all people through cosmetology. The college offers a course which prepares students for both national hairstylist's license and national welfare worker's license.
Last year this program was unofficial and on a smaller scale, being held in JICA Tokyo. Recognizing the importance of the theme and also the distinguished characteristics of the college, this year it became an official program and the participants visited the campus of Yamano College to study more comprehensively as the following schedule.
Ms. Jane Aiko Yamano is one of the leading figures in aesthetics in Japan.
The participants got excited from the beginning of the day to see her demonstration show of quick change of so many costumes from a Japanese traditional wedding dress till a western style wedding dress.
After the lunch, the participants had a college tour and observed the classrooms equipped for practical study on various aspects of welfare. For example there was a classroom with various types of bath equippment so that the students can learn how to assist elderly people or persons with disability to have a bath. There was also a classroom with kitchen facilities. The students of Biyo Fukushi (Beauty and Welfare) Course learn about cooking related matters, which are necessary in order to work as welfare workers.
After the tour, Ms. Watanabe, director of Biyo Fukushi (Beauty and Welfare) Course, explained about the college and talked about relation of welfare and beauty. The participants could understand the effects of aesthetic on people's mind and body.
Today the participants could also experience Kimono and tea ceremony and enjoyed learning about Japanese traditional culture. Although it was a rainy, the day became a unforgettable memory for the participants.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1110.html
Posted by jicafriends at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2007
Good news from Fabio-Colombia
INTERNATIONAL WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TOURNAMENT IN COLOMBIA AND NATIONAL VOLUNTEERS NETWORK
Fabio PADILLA
At this point of the year the projects are very well oriented, basic resources are in place and promotion with media is growing. Many people interested in attending and an effective interaction between Volunteers and Tournament projects has improved impact and give us the chance to save resources and time.
INTERNATIONAL WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TOURNAMENT
As usual is better by points :
1. After the whole initial troublesome process of tournament organization in Bogota, I invited more people and other Foundations to get involved and finally a team has been working better, not the event will be held in Cali. Less meetings and more job. Organizers team is composed by :
* Professor SIGIFREDO HIDALGO (Captain of Colombian Tennis Junior Team and experienced coach from Los Farallones Club in Cali)
* FABIO PADILLA (Wheelchair tennis player and promoter – ITF contact)
* CLUB DEPORTIVO RUEDAS MAGICAS
* FUNDACIÓN NUEVOS HORIZONTES
* FUNDACIÓN ARCANGELES
2. As I was traveling by Brazil I had to keep coordinating the project mainly by email and take some important decisions on my own in order to have the project going on. So I prepared a new proposal for sponsors based on Cali's tournament, chose the tournament's logo and so on... in this case no democracy but faster results (Logos options were prepared by publicist of Arcangeles Foundation)
3. Constant communication with Sigifredo in Cali gave me confidence on tournament success. He has a very particular style of work, not very email or internet oriented, usually very busy in his tennis world but very well connected with potential sponsors in Cali. So working with him is a challenge because we agree and coordinate everything mainly by phone, so I am the one making records, putting things on paper and giving him reminders of rules, deadlines, or present situation. His experience organizing tournaments and the support of Los Farallones Club Campestre for the tournament are instrumental.
Posted by jicafriends at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2007
TRAINING REPORT : NGO Management
November 7, 2007 :
Lecture :
NGO Management (including fund raising)
Today, the participants learned about Organizational Management lectured by Ms. Yoko Asakawa.
She is one of the founding members of JEN (Japan Emergency NGOs) and she has been engaged in the realm of emergency assistance as well as JEN's organizational development since its establishment in 1994.
JEN is a NPO which aims to support reconstruction of the life which was lost after war or disaster.
She explained major issues of organizational management using her own experiences, especially difficulties that she faced in the process of JEN's development.
She said that it is important to consider both merits and demerits of being different sizes of organization, keeping in mind its mission to achieve. The participants understood that a bigger organization is not always good.
She also illustrated stages of organizational growth and it was easy to see in which stage one's organization stands.
Attractive slogan is another important factor of organizational management.
It appeals to the donors and makes people understand easily why the organization exist.
So the participants made their own slogans of their organizations and compared which are more attactive.
Different types of staff are needed to manage an organization.
The participants showed a strong interest in how to work with unpaid staff and volunteers.
She also mentioned about the importance of accounting. Keeping financial records and receipts, price comparison, and checking cash balance are essential duties.
Fundraising is the most difficult issue.
Ms. Asakawa said that an important point was to get continuous donations.
The key of asking for donation is starting from a small amount, after the success of one project increase it gradually.
She introduced a lot of practical tactics.
In the lecture, the participants also shared their experiences and gave comments to each other.
Ms. Asakawa commented that both successful and unsuccessful case studies are significant to figure out and avoid future problems.
All participants were eagerly attentive and understood well about key components of organizational management.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1107.html
Posted by jicafriends at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : Importance of Political Participation of Persons with Disabilities
November 9, 2007 :
Lecture :
Importance of Political Participation of Persons with Disabilities
Mr. Eita YASHIRO, former member of the House of Representatives
Visit : Diet Building
Today the participants visited one of the Members' Office Buildings of the House of Representative to receive a lecture on the importance of political participation of persons with disabilities.
The lecturer, Mr. Eita Yashiro, is the first person with disabilities elected as a national diet member of Japan in 1977. “Send a Wheelchair to the Diet!” was his campaign slogan. He made the Diet building accessible.
In 1999 he was appointed to the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.
Mr. Yashiro introduced the ideal of normalization and also talked about the necessity of political participation of persons with disabilities in the local government as well as at a national level. Three participants got inspired to become a politician by Mr. Yashiro. We finished by singing “You Are My Sunshine” all together.
In the afternoon they visited the Diet Building and observed how it became accessible.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1109.html
Posted by jicafriends at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : How to Write Action Plan Ⅱ and Presentation Skill
November 8, 2007 :
Workshop : How to Write Action Plan Ⅱ and Presentation Skill
By Ms. Sarajean ROSSITTO
Today was the second day with Ms. Rossitto. Although the participants had only one week to write their action plan, they managed to bring their drafts for its revision. They worked in pairs to check whether all the items were included and could find some missing parts to be improved. With Ms. Rossitto, they were encouraged to work in pairs or small groups and give advices and suggestions to each other, learning mutually.
Then Ms. Rossitto demonstrated an example of a bad presentation and the participants pointed out many “Do's” and “Don'ts.” They also learned how to write the outline of their action plan, as in their presentation they would not be able to read out the full text. The participants practiced in pairs to explain the outline of their action plan in a fixed time and by doing so they could also practice making a presentation.
Today the participants clarified any parts that they were not sure about the writing process and also learned presentation skills. They showed concentration and worked hard. It was a tough day but they were now more prepared for their presentation.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1108.html
Posted by jicafriends at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : Partnership of Government, International Community, NGO and PWD-Experiences in Lao PDR
November 12, 2007 :
Lecture :
Partnership of Government, International Community, NGO and PWD-Experiences in Lao PDR
By Mr. Shintaro NAKAMURA,
Former policy advisor to Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Lao PDR (JICA Long-term Expert)
Mr. Nakamura has just come back from Lao PDR this August after finishing a three-year contract with JICA.
He explained ten participants about his activities there which ranged from development of a long-term labour and social welfare plan to support for grass-root projects by young persons with disabilities.
His experiences in Lao PDR showed themthe importance of cooperative network between GO and selp-help organizations..
“Disability rights seminar and radio listening club” and “IT workshop for the visually impaired” were successfully done by persons with disabilities themselves under the cooperation of GO and international community.
At the end Mr. Nakamura gave them the following key factors to implement projects successfully.
* Act as a team, not individually
* Initiatives from PWD
* Start with a small step
* Make use of your competitive advantage
* Aggressively seek information about support schemes of government, NGO and international community
* Find collaborators in the government
* Transparency and accountability
Not only his lecture but also his big smiles empowered ten participants.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1112.html
Posted by jicafriends at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : World Disability Movements - till the Adoption of the Convention
November 5, 2007 :
Lecture :
World Disability Movements - till the Adoption of the Convention
By Mr. Yutaka TAKAMINE,
Professor, Faculty of Law and Letters, University of the Ryukyus
Today's lecture is on the World Disability Movement and the lecturer is Mr. Takamine who used to work for UN ESCAP. His comprehensive lecture covered such topics as Globalization of the disability movement, UN Decade of PWDs (1983-1992), Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993-2002), other regional decades, Convention on the rights of PWDs, and Emerging issues.
The participants watched a video on APCD (Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability) which aims to promote the empowerment of people with disabilities and a barrier-free society in developing countries in the Asia and Pacific Region. Mr. Takamine talked about the importance of including disability issues in development.
Some participants were shocked to realize that they did not know much of what was happening in the world. Before finishing the lecture, he encouraged the participants by saying “The world is moving ! It is time for working on disability issues and resources are there!”
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1105.html
Posted by jicafriends at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : Discussion on Peace and Disability
October 26, 2007 :
Discussion on Peace and Disability
Mr. Yamaguchi, one of the planning committee members, had been accompanying the participants to this regional training. This morning he facilitated a discussion on peace and disability.
As a reference material for today's discussion, Mr. Yamaguchi had distributed a document called “WORLD PEACE - THROUGH THE EXPERIENCES OF A PERSON WITH DISABILITY.”
Thjs was written by a blind person from Sri Lanka and contained some clues for discussing world peace from the perspectives of persons with disabilities.
The participants reflected on what they learned from Hiroshima's experience and firstly they shared their impression of Hibakusha. Many participants stated that their countries had experienced wars or conflicts and that a conflict is one of the causes of disabilities. Some participants were surprised to hear from a Costa Rican participant that his country had been peaceful for many years and they even do not have military by the constitution.
In this opportunity, the participants could consider what they could do for peace in their community.
This afternoon the participants came back to Tokyo by Shinkansen (bullet train).
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l1026.html
Posted by jicafriends at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)
TRAINING REPORT : Accessible Tourism: Miyajima
October 25, 2007 PM :
Accessible Tourism: Miyajima
(UNESCO World Cultural Heritage)
Miyajima (literally “shrine island”) is a famous tourism attraction, being one of Japan's three most scenic views and also designated as UNESCO world cultural heritage. Miyajima is most famous for Itsukushima Shrine, which, together with its large wooden torii (gate), stands in the ocean during high tide.
This afternoon the participants visited Miyajima to learn about the accessible tourism. Everyone has a right to travel and go to places. The participants checked that the route was all accessible from the ferry pier, the ferry, streets, shops, till the building of shrine. The accessible tourism, attracting a wider range of tourists, could have an economic impact and in many of the participants' countries the tourism is an important source of income and today the participants could experience the importance of accessibility in tourism.
When we returned to the hotel, we took a photo with two bus drivers who have been accompanying us everyday. We hired two accessible buses for this one week regional training and it was the last night in Hiroshima. Thanks to them, we could smoothly conduct the training.
http://www.jicafriends.jp/leaders/gi2007/training/l102502.html
Posted by jicafriends at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)