Training of Initiators of Self-help Groups of Persons with Disabilities towards Rights-based and Sustainable Community Development
SHG Training participants
APCD organized the Training of Initiators of Self-help Groups (SHG) of Persons with Disabilities (PWD) towards Rights-based and Sustainable Community Development from 10 - 30 August 2004 at the Redemptorist Center in Pattaya, Chonburi Province in Thailand. The intent was to help participants gain knowledge, skills and values to enable "poor PWD" to form their own SHG. Eighteen persons from more than 10 organizations in Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand participated, who plan to initiate/ strengthen SHG of "poor PWD" at the grass-roots level.
"Poor PWD"
APCD's mandate is to work in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region, where approximately 20 - 30 % of "the poor" are PWD and more than 40 % of PWD are "poor". Although the definition of "the poor" varies, generally their basic human needs (e.g. food, housing, schooling) as well as "extra" basic human needs due to their impairments (e.g., assistive devices, rehabilitation) have not been met in their communities.
What it SHG?
Recently, a number of NGO in developing countries have been successful in empowering socially vulnerable and economically poor persons (e.g., women, land-less farmers) by enabling them to form their own groups of 7 - 15 members, which then form a federation. In these SHG, a micro-credit scheme is also used to generate necessary funds. This SHG approach which has already been proven effective in very poor rural communities in the Asia-Pacific region (e.g., India), where no adequate or sufficient government services (e.g., transportation, sanitation) are available, can also be applied to PWD.
Poverty and Disability
Department for International Development , UK, 2000
International organizations recognize the vicious circle of "poverty" and "disability". Enabling poor PWD to form their SHG is a way to break through this vicious cycle to meet their basic human needs in their communities, and empower them to be major driving forces for rights-based and sustainable development of their communities.
Empowerment of Poor PWD through Forming their SHG
SHG Meeting in India
For poor segregated PWD, SHG is like a "family" with respect and empathy for each other. Also, poor PWD, who have been isolated and deprived of education and information, SHG is like a "school" to learn many new things. SHG can play a variety of many roles in mainstreaming PWD in the community, when they become well-developed. Furthermore, SHG of PWD are capable of contributing to solving common problems in their communities (e.g., safe drinking water, sanitation, better housing, health services, schools for all children, etc.)
Through the process of forming/developing/ sustaining SHG, poor PWD can become more responsible for their development, able to have control of their own lives and decide on issues affecting their rights.
Training Focuses
As a Co-course Leader, APCD invited Mr. B. Venkatesh, a prestigious Indian trainer on SHG of PWD who has contributed greatly to the VELUGU project supported by the World Bank in Andhra Pradesh State, India. He conducted a three-week training module as follows:
- Disability and Development:
- The situation of "disabled persons" in society and the reasons for it
- What we need to do in order to change this situation
- Poverty and Disability:
- Why people are poor
- Links between poverty and disability
- Community Study: Why/how to work in the community
- Case Study: Why/how to work with PWD and their families
- Group Building: Why/how to build SHG of PWD
To help participants gain "a hands-on experience" of PWD in poor communities, they visited the same Thai person with a disability and his/her family twice. Through these field visits, they could gain further insights and skills in developing a rapport with an individual with a disability.
Mr. Yutaka Takamine, Co-course Leader for the SHG
Mr. B. Venkatesh
I participated as a co-course leader in the above-mentioned training held in August this summer. Lessons learned from last-year's training workshop on a similar subject were used to develop this year's training program. Last year's workshop focused on the training of self-help organizations of persons with disabilities [you may call them disabled peoples' organizations (DPOs)]. Evaluation of last year's workshop, indicated there should be more focus on grass-roots groups of poor people with disabilities than established DPOs. It was a common understanding that empowerment should take place among persons with disabilities at the grass-roots level, in order to change lives of persons with disabilities in rural villages. As a result, this year's workshop was developed to train initiators of self-help groups. Mr. B. Venkatesh, a well-known expert on training of self-help groups of persons with disabilities, was invited to formulate a training program and lead the training workshop.
Mr. Y. Takamine
One important agenda of the training was to learn that poverty is the root cause of disability in developing countries. It is estimated that over 40 % of persons with disabilities in developing countries of the Asian and Pacific region are poor. Thus it is imperative to understand the close relationship between disability and poverty. Building on this understanding, 18 participants from Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand learned how to conduct a community study, case study, group building, project management, independent living and fund-raising for the duration of 21 days. The highlight of the program was visits to six persons with disabilities living in poor villages. Participants were divided into 6 groups and assigned to do a case-study of each disabled individual and conduct a simple community study to learn about the community each disabled person lived in. Each group reported on the two visits they made to understand the real situation of persons with disabilities in rural areas.
I believe this training of initiators of self-help groups of persons with disabilities can be developed as a flagship program of APCD. This is because the main target of the United Nations millennium development goals is to reduce poverty by 50% by the year 2015 through all United Nations member governments, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, international development banks, and non-governmental organizations. To achieve this global poverty reduction target, issues of poor persons with disabilities who constitute 20 % of poor people have to be incorporated into the national poverty reduction programs. Support for the development of self-help groups of persons with disabilities at the village level and the formation of federations of such self-help groups may be considered the best way to empower and assist them in coming out of poverty.
