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August 11, 2011
"Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities through Peer Support" -5-
March 6, 2011
Workshop Day Three
The last day of the workshop at the Alatau Sanatorium, Almaty continued to receive ardent reactions from the young leaders. In group discussions they contemplated the idea of independent living, and then enjoyed following a day of Mr. Hata’s life on screen.
《Morning Session》
1. Today’s New and Goods (talking about what have happened since yesterday evening)
2. Learning the situation in Japan I (watching a documentary film, “A Day of Mr. Hata”) featuring an everyday life of a young man with disability living in Hyogo, Japan)
Lunch Break
《Afternoon Session》
3. Learning the situation in Japan II (historical and current welfare services for persons with disabilities in Japan)
4. Group discussion II (the participants divided into three groups talked about what should be done in order to improve circumstances for persons with disabilities in Kazakhstan).
5. Q&A session
6. Appreciation session (the participants thanked one another to mark a positive ending of the event – applying the peer counseling technique).
During the lunch break, Ms. Kassiyet Omarova, the workshop organizer, was interviewed by the media together with Ms. Masako Okuhira and Mr. Dai Okita.
In the afternoon, the participants learned about the development of welfare services for persons with disabilities in Japan, realizing that their own country potentially has a bright future as a disability-friendly society, and that this would to a large extent depend on themselves.
The participants impressed the facilitators with their enthusiasm, but were reminded that they were only at the start of the long journey. The young people were encouraged to involve their fellow friends living in the remote areas and build strong networks in order to change the society in Kazakhstan.
The three-day workshop ended with a great success. Fourteen young leaders with disabilities received the workshop completion certificates from Mr. Tetsuji Nishikawa of the JICA Astana Office.
Before ending the closing ceremony the fourteen participants including two Japanese facilitators expressed their heartfelt appreciation to their Japanese-Russian interpreters, Mr. Besengali Kenesari and Ms.Aliya Chingishpayeva for their close cooperation.
Ms. Kassiyet Omarova, the former participant of JICA leadership development course 2009 and the organizer of the whole event, demonstrated not only her excellent management skills but also how committed she was to changing the Kazakh society towards disability-friendly one. Hopefully she will continue to develop networks across the country and receive a lot of support in achieving her goals.
Posted by jicafriends at August 11, 2011 06:13 AM