Empowered LCD South Asia's News Letter, Volume 4
Volume 4
- Editorial:
Dear Reader,
I would, before anything else, like to thank you for your inputs and suggestions which have greatly helped us build a wider readership base than before.
With the closing of the financial term, there is much clutter of paperwork at this time of the year. However, there is much to share as you will see in the following pages. Having started the year on spirited heels, we are making good progress, finding newer areas of work and opportunities to express our mission.
In this issue, we have highlighted the case of earthquake affected district of Manshera (North West Frontier Province, Pakistan) as 'best practice'. With over 313 beneficiaries across 20 villages, the Disability Resource Centre (DRC) - set up by Leonard Cheshire Disability in partnership with Community Appraisal and Motivation Program (CAMP) - is already the foremost disability-related organization in the region.
- Making the most of people's lives!:
Originally for work, I have visited India very regularly during the last twenty years, and gained the strong impression that people with disabilities have a much harder time there than in Britain. And this is not just a question of money. Even in a booming city such as Bangalore in the south, a highly competitive society means that many people have a hard life, such as can hardly be imagined by us here.
- Guest Speak:
All over the world, the role of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in imparting education to disabled children cannot be undermined. In India, both the government and the NGOs work in close partnership to facilitate Inclusive Education. The NGOs are actively involved in creating awareness, mobilising resources, encouraging community participation and in-actual delivery of support and services to disabled children.
- Management Input:
LEGAL COMPLIANCE
It is essential for Non Government Organisations (NGOs) to be transparent and accountable while dealing with funds received from the government and donor agencies. Here is a checklist of various legal formalities that NGOs (especially those based in India) should follow to achieve total transparency and accountability.
- Best Practice:
Supporting People with Disabilities in the earthquake affected district of Mansehra, Pakistan (North West Frontier Province)
Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD) is working to support children and persons with disabilities affected in the devastating earthquake of October 8, 2005, in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. The earthquake left around 87,000 people dead, 2.8 million without shelter and over a million without any income. Many people were also disabled in the disaster.
- Self Help Group :
“No one used to care for us, but today, we are financially independent and respected in the society” says Shiv Prasad, a member of Jagriti SHG in Mograram village of Sehore district. This change began in April 2008, when staff from ARUSHI, a disability programme supported by Leonard Cheshire Disability, visited the village and conducted an awareness programme on disability rights. 15 disabled people attended the programme, where, the concept of a self help group (SHG) was introduced and the activities of an SHG were explained. Following the programme, six disabled people came forward to form a SHG.
- Activities and Events:
In this quarter, SARO hosted an International Conference on Disability in the Commonwealth Asia. Details of this conference and some other key highlights are given below -
- Disability to ABILITY:
To demonstrate interventions taken up by LCD-South Asia Office and the impact of their work, we are regularly tracking the case story of “Esar Uddin and his family”. This family has been identified by a SARO supported programme in Bangladesh.
- Arsalan - Story from TCCP Pakistan
- Readership Survey - 2
- Editorial
- Best Practice - Model Polling Station Promoting Accessibility:
“Earlier, to cast my vote, people would carry me into the polling station and I would then request them to stamp the ballot paper on my behalf. Today, however, for the first time in many years, I could enter the polling station and cast a vote on my own”, says Amarasena Jayaweera, 63, a person affected with paralysis 13 years ago.
- Guest Speak - Forgotten population of Skardu, Pakistan:
People with disabilities in developing countries often face acute barriers than those in developed ones. Within developing countries, people living in rural and remote areas are the ones who are the most affected. One such area is that of Skardu district, in Baltistan division of Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) of Pakistan.
- A New Beginning:
My name is Lata Salvi. I'm 22 years old. I have 3 sisters, two of whom are working, while the youngest is still in school. We live in a small house in one of the poorest areas of Mumbai. I have never been to school as I'm usually sick. (cerebral palsy, mental retardation and cancer). I stay at home the whole day and used to get bored.
- Self Help Group:
The group leader, Prabhudas, says “Earlier no one cared for us, but today they respect us in the community. We have been successful in lobbying with government officials to issue job cards for people with disabilities under the government's 100 days work scheme. As a result, six of our members are currently employed under this scheme. In the future, we plan to promote another self help group of persons with disabilities in our village.”
- Work and Independence:
Badri is now a role model for other people with disabilities. He says “I am going to guide youth with disabilities to be financially independent so they can live a decent life.”
- Activities and Events
- The Sorrow of Bihar:
People with disabilities have been totally neglected by the government in the relief operations. Some international development organisations have reached out to persons with disabilities as part of their relief operations, but, none of them were exclusively catering to this vulnerable group.
Many persons with disabilities were searching for their family members lost in the commotion following the floods. On a day-to-day basis, they were struggling to access food, water and health services. The inaccessible toilets in the relief camps added to their woes. Some of them slept in the open air in damp conditions without blankets.
- Disability to Ability:
To demonstrate interventions taken up by LCD-South Asia Office and the impact of our work we are regularly tracking the case story of “Esar Uddin and his family”. This family has been recently identified as clients by a SARO supported programme.
LCD-SARO has partnered with Centre for Disability in Development (CDD), a disability organisation in Bangladesh, to implement a programme on Inclusive Education and Employment Rights of Persons with Disabilities. CDD has chosen local partners to support them in implementation of this programme; one among them is Gono Unnayan Sangstha (GUK), a community development organisation working in remote, backward and disaster prone areas of Gaibandha district.
- Management Input:
All these tools and use of appropriate processes of PRA makes PRA a fun and an involving method of approaching a community in your programme. It is an effective tool to make your programme effective and useful to all stakeholders.
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