Publication > Newsletter > Newsletter 12 > APCD Human Resources Development Follow-ups

APCD Human Resources Development Follow-ups

Mission to Viet Nam

APCD Human Resources Development Follow-ups From 29 March to 5 April 2005, APCD dispatched a Mission to Viet Nam, visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Danang. The main objective of the Mission was to monitor the post-training activities of the Vietnamese participants in the following fields:

Accessible Web-based Information Networking (WBN)
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Visually Impaired Persons (VIP)
Comprehensive Approach to Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR)
Capacity Building of Self-help Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (CBSHOD)

From APCD's inception until April 2005, APCD has trained more than 60 Vietnamese, respecting Viet Nam as an important target country. Through interviews and visits with former participants at their organizations, the Mission found the following major outcomes:

Accessible WBN and Effective Trainers of ICT for VIP

Former ICT Training participant The APCD WBN Training is designed for participants to learn information networking and accessible web-site production in order to be a source of information. One participant from the Disability Forum has been successfully developing a web-site to be more accessible for users with visual impairments, etc. and also facilitating information network among the Forum members as a web-master.

When APCD organized the first "training for trainers" for ICT for VIP in 2004, targeting computer teachers for the blind and equipping these teachers with pertinent knowledge/skills on various software and assistive devices, APCD selected two participants from Viet Nam; one sighted participant from the Viet Nam Blind Association in Hanoi and one blind participant from Bung Sang Institution for the Blind in Ho Chi Minh City. The Mission visited their organizations to conduct post-training interviews, to see how they developed their expertise and became more knowledgeable and skillful "trainers" on ICT for VIP. They have been sharing their knowledge/skills at their respective organizations with local blind persons regularly as well as training sighted persons to teach blind students more effectively.

Nowadays large cities in Viet Nam, more organizations and schools for the blind are beginning to teach computer skills in order to help more blind citizens educationally for future employment. Although still limited, ICT for VIP, and especially computers, have become more affordable, and are a prerequisite for higher education and office work for blind persons. Former APCD training participants have been pioneers leading this movement; APCD will further develop human resources, which can help social participation of VIP via ICT.

Strengthening CBR through a Social and Comprehensive Approach in Danang

Former CBR parcitipants' meeting APCD's CBR Training aims to facilitate social inclusion of PWD through their participatory process in CBR and supports covering various aspects of life of PWD. Although CBR has been greatly promoted in Viet Nam, APCD believes that it can be further strengthened through a social and comprehensive approach. Through the monitoring of the former CBR participants from 2003, APCD strategically targeted Danang province in 2004, inviting 6 medical professionals (e.g., medical doctors, nurses, physio-therapists) responsible for their CBR program. Through the post-training interviews, the Mission confirmed that their pro-medical paradigm for CBR changed to pro-social after the APCD training, stressing the importance of social inclusion of PWD and a "bottom-up" approach. Some who work as CBR trainers, modified their CBR training materials covering social awareness, income generation, SHG of PWD, etc. and improved the training methods to become more participatory.

The Mission was also invited to meetings and activities of SHG of PWD, supported by some former participants. It was an excellent first step to utilize the collective power and participation of PWD for strengthening CBR while it was observed that the APCD HRD Program, the SHG Training in particular, would be able to help Vietnamese further develop effective SHG of PWD at the grass-root level.

Self-help Movement throughout Viet Nam

Former CBSHOD Participants' Meeting In cooperation with the Government Focal Point, the National Coordinating Council on Disability (NCCD), APCD organized a 5-day Regional Seminar for CBSHOD in Hanoi in December 2004, inviting 25 national leaders with disabilities from Asia-Pacific countries and 30 local participants from throughout Viet Nam. APCD emphasized a participatory planning process and raised awareness on the significance of empowering PWD, by involving as many as Vietnamese leaders with disabilities in the Seminar's Organizing Committee.

The post-training activities of local participants were monitored by the Mission through a half-day meeting in Hanoi and respective interviews in their organizations. According to their feedback of the CBSHOD Seminar in which most of the resource persons were also PWD from developing countries, it was an eye-opening event for the Vietnamese, shifting their paradigm from a charity approach to one of supporting and empowering PWD. Through the Seminar, participants could learn good practices of self-help activities, further develop their leadership skills, and were motivated to empower other PWD. In short, the participants could gain knowledge and spirit, and establish attitudes and a basic capacity for the self-help movement. Since the CBSHOD Seminar, new SHGs of PWD have been initiated throughout Viet Nam and a movement to organize a cross-disability national federation of SHG of PWD is emerging.

Mission to Myanmar

An APCD Mission visited Yangon, Myanmar from 5-8 June 2005 in order to further develop a cooperative relationship with the Government Focal Point, the Department of Social Welfare (DSW), and to monitor and follow-up on the former training participants. APCD primarily conducted post-training monitoring interviews with the participants from 2004 in the following fields:

Capacity Building of Self-help Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (CBSHOD)
Initiating Self-help Groups (SHG) of People with Disabilities (PWD)
Social and Comprehensive Approach to Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR)

As a target country, APCD has encouraged Myanmar to strengthen the community and rights-based approaches to support people with disabilities and accommodated more than 20 persons in relevant APCD training courses. The Mission appreciated the following progress in Myanmar.

Cooperative Relationship with the APCD Government Focal Point and JICA Office

Meeting with Director General of DSW DSW, as the Government Focal Point, has been cooperating with APCD in the recruitment and follow-up of participants. Through a meeting with the Mission, the Director-General of DSW and other Executives further deepened their understanding of the significance of cooperation between the Government and NGO including disabled people's organizations for the empowerment of PWD.

The Mission organized a half-day follow-up seminar in cooperation with DSW and the JICA Myanmar Office. The JICA Office modified the building entrance to make it accessible for participants using wheelchairs, offered the seminar venue and encouraged post-training activities by introducing its NGO Center (e.g., meeting space, computer) for their usage.

In the follow-up seminar, 14 former participants shared their achievements and issues that they encountered after returning from their training. The seminar culminated in having comments and suggestions by APCD Resource Persons, who included a deaf Thai person and person with a physical disability with rich self-help experiences, leading the Asia-Pacific regional movement on disability.

Self-help Groups/Organizations (SHG/SHO) Initiated/Strengthened by Former Participants

APCD invited 6 participants with 2 interpreters for the SHG Training in Thailand and 1 participant for the CBSHOD Training organized in Hanoi, Viet Nam in 2004. The SHG Training was for initiators of SHG of PWD at the grass-root level for sustainable community development to deepen their understanding of poverty, development and disability; the CBSHOD Training targeted national leaders with disabilities and helped develop/strengthen a national cross-disability federation for effective policy advocacy.

Former participants The Mission was successful in monitoring 7 participants for the SHG and SHO Training and found that the following SHG and SHO had been initiated or further strengthened by former APCD training participants:

Myanmar Disabled People's Organization
Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association
Yangon Association of the Deaf
Raise-up Persons with Disability Groups (Yangon)
Deaf Youth Development Center (Mandalay)
Pyin Oo Lwin Self-help Group (Mandalay)

Former participants with disabilities who had been empowered through the APCD training courses have been empowering other people with disabilities at the national as well as grass-root community level.

Mainstreaming Disability Issues in Area Development Programs: CBR and SHG of PWD

World Concern CBR Project Three Myanmar staff of World Vision, their Health Advisor and Community Development Facilitators, participated in the APCD CBR Training in 2004. Despite their partial participation as self-sponsored participants, they were active and leading participants.

Through the post-training interviews, the Mission appreciated that they had applied their learning in their field practice and shared relevant knowledge with their colleagues and community people. A participant from Mandalay, for example, has become a more effective supporter for income generation and developing SHG of PWD, utilizing her learning from the APCD Training.

APCD visited one of the "Area Development Programs" in a township near Yangon, where CBR has been implemented as part of the Program and one of the former participants is responsible for it. Although the CBR has not yet fully matured, the Mission was pleased to observe that many community people were motivated to join CBR and enjoyed their community work thanks to excellent facilitation by the former APCD participant.

Since World Vision recently started long-term "Area Development Programs" throughout Myanmar, with comprehensive community development being pursued by people in their respective communities in phases of a 15-year project and disability issues will be mainstreamed through CBR. The former APCD training participants have been and will be greatly contributing to the disability-related community development.

Mission to Cambodia

Cambodia Former Participants' Meeting The APCD dispatched a Mission to Cambodia from 22 to 25 June 2005 in order to monitor/follow up former participants of APCD training and gather updated disability information.

Amazingly, APCD has already trained 27 officers in organizations of/for persons with disabilities through 8 training courses since 2002. Nearly half of them are PWDs with a keen commitment to their work; APCD was looking forward to seeing their activities.

The mission team visited 2 focal point organizations:

the Ministry of Social Affaires, Veteran and Youth Rehabilitation, and
the Disability Action Council (DAC), and mainly discussed the recruitment system in order to fully utilize the human resources trained by APCD.

The mission team also visited 6 associate organizations where many former APCD training participants were working.

Ms. Ma Layna, Association of the Blind Cambodia (ABC), a former participant of the ICT for Visually Impaired Persons (VIPs) 2004, is actively working for computer training for VIPs. She is teaching 4-6 VIPs in the morning and evening computer classes and is also responsible for Braille and the talking book library. Her efforts and character must be a great asset to ABC and blind friends in Cambodia. APCD hopes that many blind friends will be empowered by her computer classes.

Ms. Em So Chanda from Krousar Thmey in Battambang, is also a former participant of ICT for VIPs. Krousar Themy has 120 deaf as well as blind students from Grades 1-9. Ms. Chanda is in charge of computer classes for visually impaired students and teaches basic computer skills by using a screen reader. She said many blind students are so eager to study computer and ask many questions which she cannot always answer.

The mission team also followed up activities of former participants of a self-help group of PWDs.

The mission team also joined an APCD Alumni Group Networking Meeting at the National Center of Disabled Persons (NCDP) organized by former APCD training participants. Ms. Yin Mom, from Action on Disability and Development, a former participant of SHG training, was the facilitator of the meeting. APCD was so pleased to learn about the significant SHG, CBR, ICT and Networking activities from 12 former training participants. Six objectives of the networking meeting included the importance of collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affaires, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and DAC, both APCD focal point organizations.

As a mission outcome, APCD was able to learn about the activities of the focal and associate organizations of APCD.

Disability Action Council (DAC) is being restructured emphasizing a national plan of action, an employment policy, and CBR program, etc.

JICA Cambodia is also putting a priority on disability issues. They consider promotion of social participation as well as development of a legal framework for PWDs very important. Strengthening disabled peoples' organizations and capacity building of persons working for PWDs are also essential. APCD is looking forward to seeing fruitful collaboration among NGOs, GO and JICA.

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