Training Workshop on Capacity Building for Self-help Organizations of Persons with Disabilities
Report
SHO's participants, resource persons and APCD staff during the field visit.
Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD) organized a "Training Workshop on Capacity Building for Self-Help Organizations (SHO) of Persons with Disabilities (PWD)" in Bangkok from 10 – 20 September, 2003. Twentyone young potential leaders with physical, visual or hearing disabilities from 6 Asian countries participated such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Viet Nam and Thailand.
BMF and SHO of PWD
"SHO of PWD" is the core of the 7 priority-areas in the UN ESCAP BIWAKO Millennium Framework (BMF) for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific. SHO of PWD are believed to be "the most qualified, best informed and most motivated to speak on their own behalf concerning the proper design and implementation of policy, legislation and strategies".
Concerning SHO of PWD, the BMF states: "Actions Required to Achieve Targets"
- Self-help organizations should develop programmes for capacity-building to empower their members, including youth and women with disabilities, to take consultative and leadership roles in the community at large as well as in their own organizations and enable them to serve as trainers in the development of leadership and management skills of members of self-help organizations.
- National self-help organizations of diverse disability groups should develop mechanisms to engage rural persons with disabilities in self-help organizations for mutual support, advocacy and referral to programmes and services, and to collaborate actively with rural and urban development NGOs and Government in rural development initiatives.
In this regard, the APCD's Training Workshop for SHO of PWD targeted young leaders, especially women, with disabilities as our training participants, and strengthened their capacity by 1) equipping them with necessary knowledge/ skills to manage/develop their SHO, 2) raising their full awareness on socio-geographically marginalized PWD such as persons in rural areas, urban slums etc., and 3) encouraging them to develop selfhelp organizations of persons/groups with diverse disabilities including, persons with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities etc.
] Self-help Movement Strengthened through South-to-South Cooperation
APCD's first Training Workshop for SHO of PWD focused on national leaders with disabilities. Especially since the 1990's, many leaders with disabilities in Thailand have actively participated in the disability-concerned legislation process at the national level while vigorously expanding the "selfhelp movement" in the countryside. Some Thai SHO of PWD have technically and spiritually supported PWD in neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Myanmar etc. by menitoring and training them in Thailand and/or in their countries. Utilizing their long-term efforts and experience, representatives from the Council of Disabled Persons in Thailand, the Association of the Physically Handicapped in Thailand, Thailand Association of the Blind, the National Association of the Deaf in Thailand, and the Parents Association of the Autistic in Thailand, etc. worked closely with APCD as Task Force members as well as resource persons in the Training Workshop. Through this collaborative work, ties have been strengthed among organizations as well as with APCD. In addition to the Thai leaders with disabilities, 7 resource persons from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Japan and the Philippines helped make this Training Workshop very fruitful. All were from the Asia-Pacific region and have been engaged in work concerning disability in developing countries and are very committed to the development of SHO of PWD. From their own work and life experiences, all are convinced that SHO of PWD can most powerfully and effectively relieve PWD from poverty and injustice in developing countries; only the collective power of PWD can lead to an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society in the Asia-Pacific region. The resource persons fully communicated this belief and a strong "self-help spirit" throughout the 10 day Training Workshop.
Comments from some resource persons who greatly contributed to the implementation of APCD SHO of PWD Training Workshop are as follows:
Mr. Yutaka Takamine
JICA Expert for APCD SHO Training
Mr. Yutaka Takamine
When I was working in ESCAP, we initiated the training of persons with disabilities as promoters for non-handicapping environments in the Asian and Pacific region. As we learned how important it is to train persons with disabilities in social mobilization in the area of the promotion of a non-handicapping environment, we selected 18 persons with disabilities from the region and provided them with intensive training for one year. Each one became a strong advocate for the promotion of a non-handicapping environment and other issues affecting persons with disabilities.
From that experience, I have become a strong believer in training persons with disabilities in social mobilization and organizing and strengthening self-help organizations of persons with disabilities at the grassroots level. The APCD's new training course, I believe, is to further develop our initiative in ESCAP and multiply such efforts at the regional level. For that reason, I congratulate APCD on its commitment to strengthen grassroots self-help organizations of persons with disabilities.
Mr. Prayat Punongong
APCD SHO Training Task Force Member
Mr. Prayat Punongon
Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) has been developing SHO since 1981. As a member of DPI Asia-Pacific, I think the training course was excellent, and the resource persons were well experienced. The course contents will be evaluated regarding the development of SHOs, especially their role and function in the 6 countries which participated in the first training course. Incidentally, it was not easy for the organizers to host a cross-cultural meeting. It is essential to continue to develop a process oriented plan to be implemented by persons with disabilities for the benefit of future participants.
Mr. Setareki S Macanawai
Resource Person from Fiji for APCD SHO Training
Mr. Setareki s Macanawai
To all participants who attended the recent APCD SHO Training, you must make an honest effort and serious attempt to implement and try out the skills, knowledge and experience you have gained from the workshop. Remember that you were selected because of the potential you have to become agents of change in your own country and to help improve the status, welfare, opportunities and quality of life of persons with disabilities who live there through your role, position and involvement in your organization. Therefore, believe in yourself and have faith in your own abilities to make a significant contribution to the disability development work in your nation. Since we are in this movement together with different gifts and talents to ensure its success, do respect your work colleagues and appreciate one another. Finally, dream big dreams about a more disability-friendly, inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society where you live today so that we, persons with disabilities are given the recognition, support, treatment, opportunity and dignity we deserve as citizens of our respective countries and as fellow human beings.
] Special Article
Beyond Shoulders
"She has no hands
yet still she can write,
She has no feet
yet still she can walk,
As her strong heart still beats,
it will never stop".
Ms. Supattraporn Tanathikom
"Life might not be just the way you expected it to be. All you need to know is how to deal with it and be satisfied with what you have", said Ms. Supattraporn Tanathikom or Mai, a highly empowered woman with a disability, to the press on 28 September 2003 to introduce her first book "Beyond Shoulders" at Chulalongkorn University.
Her newly released book "Beyond Shoulders" is the true story of a courageous paralyzed woman whose car accident 4 years ago suddenly changed everything and left her paralyzed from the shoulders down. This encouraging story of 92 pages talks mainly about her recollection of 7 months in ICU. She uses an assistive device, Handikey, which allows persons facing physical limitations to use a computer without a conventional key-board and mouse, which made this book a reality. This book is solely her own sweat from thinking, writing to editing with the inspiration not only to share her experience but also to motivate other persons with disabilities to overcome their difficulties just like she does. The book is now available at any bookstore. With endeavor, courage and Handikeys, she is planning to complete her second book soon.
Currently, apart from her writing she is a volunteer for Disabled Peoples International (DPI) Asia-Pacific and a member of the Association of Physically Handicapped of Thailand (APHT); she has also been involved in various disability-related activities. Among them, Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD) Independent Living (IL) training is one; she is an APCD IL training participant and a potential resource person in this field.
