Disability Inclusion and Independent Living - Useful training courses

Within the framework of Phase 2 of the “Creating Opportunities and Empowering People with Disabilities (PWDs)" project (2021 - 2024) in Thua Thien Hue Province, Quang Tri Province and Quang Nam Province, training courses on “Disability Inclusion and Independent Living” were organized for cadres of associations and relevant organizations.

With the cooperation of Project Coordination Board, Thua Thien Hue Province Association of PWDs – Sponsoring PWDs and Orphans; Quang Tri Province Association of PWDs, Agent Orange Victims, Sponsoring PWDs and Protecting Children’s Rights; and Quang Nam Province Association of PWDs, training courses were held on March 4^th – 5^th in Quang Tri Province, March 6^th – 7^th in Thua Thien Hue Province and March 22^nd – 23^rd in Quang Nam Province. There were more than 100 participants from these provinces. The courses are aimed at helping participants better understand and visualize the difficulties of PWDs while recognizing the importance of inclusion and independent living for PWDs. Through various activities such as interactive games, group discussions, group exercises, development of individual work plans, etc., participants learned about the definition of disability, independent living and disability inclusion, as well as disability models, principles of ensuring disability inclusion and barriers of PWDs, etc. They also got to know skills in working with PWDs. In particular, they were also guided on counseling skills, indoor living skills at the Transition House model in the project areas.

A participant actively shared and presented her views on disability

The participants actively discussed and proposed many practical solutions to support PWDs such as: always respecting and listening to PWDs’ opinions; recommending competent agencies to build accessible public works for PWDs; frequent visits to households of PWDs to provide them with timely support; organizing training courses to disseminate regulations related to PWDs; propagating to raise awareness of supporting PWDs to integrate into the community; encouraging PWDs to participate in community activities that suit their abilities; establishing grass roots clubs or associations of PWDs, etc.

Participants practised handling situations in daily life at the Transition House

During the training course in Thua Thien Hue Province, Mr. N.T.T – Phong Dien District Association of PWDs shared: “PWDs can participate in all sports activities. Even I – a person with severe mobility impairment – can still play football. I hope that in the near future, those who have incorrect opinions about PWDs will change their views after this training course.”

Ms. T.T.N.A – Thua Thien Hue Province Association of People with Disabilities commented: “Many people are in normal conditions, then for some reasons, they have disabilities in their body parts. In such cases, they might suffer from inferiority complex, so living in the Transition House where they are provided with appropriate equipment and are looked after by doctors will help them a lot in inclusion and building up confidence.”

A participant shared her opinions in the training course in Quang Tri Province

In Quang Tri Province, after the training course, Ms. T.T.G, a medical staff member in Ward 2, Quang Tri Town, said emotionally: “On behalf of all participants, I would like to thank the lecturers and ACDC staff for organizing this course. As a medical staff member, I will apply what I have learned when dealing with patients with disabilities, and provide appropriate health care/ rehabilitation instructions for PWDs and their families. Hopefully, the project will provide more useful and practical training courses like this.”

It is expected that in the upcoming period, the project will continue with more activities to promote disability inclusion programs in the localities. It is also hoped that participants will apply the knowledge and skills provided in these training courses to advise and support PWDs in the localities so that they will have more opportunities to access, live independently and integrate into the community.