World News from Philippines

"A society where everyone, regardless of background or disability, feels welcome, included and supported"

Overcoming Disability Challenges in the Philippines

(By Maribel Buenaobra, 26.10.11) Francia came to Tala Leprosarium from her hometown of Camarines Sur in Bicol region as a leprosy patient when she was 17 years old. Before she contracted leprosy, she had worked as a domestic helper. When I met Francia at Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, a former leprosarium and grantee of The Asia Foundation's partner organization, Give2Asia, Francia was teary-eyed as she related how she was orphaned at such a young age. Surprisingly, she said she was "glad" to have been a leprosy patient, as this was how she found her way to the leprosarium which has become home to her for almost 30 years. She now lives with other former leprosy patients in a Gawad Kalinga home in Tala, Caloocan. (Gawad Kalinga, which means "to give care" in Filipino, is a Philippine-based poverty alleviation and nation-building movement whose mission is to build homes for the poor.) Unmarried at 47 years old, she looks to her life as a patient assistant as a vocation.

As patient assistants at Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, both Francia and her friend Caesar receive an allowance of a little under $10 a month from the hospital, $16 a month from the local government for their care-giving services, and a cash/food ration of $1.5 a day from the hospital. They support doctors and nurses with fellow leper patients and provide care and moral support to patients who have been shunned by society. Despite having been fully cured, Francia still bears the psychological scars from her disease. As a person with a disability, she yearns for the time when former leprosy patients can mingle and live with family members and be accepted fully by society.

For a long time, Filipinos with disabilities have suffered from discrimination. Their economic, social, and political rights have not been recognized and their access to educational opportunities and government services has been limited. Despite the passage of Republic Act 7277 or the Magna Carta for people with disabilities in 1991, which guarantees their right to employment, health, education, and auxiliary services, there are still significant barriers that keep them from fully participating in society, including the stigma surrounding a disability and society's poor understanding of the abilities and aspirations of the disabled people. Often, they face a life that is segregated and debased, and many live in isolation and insecurity. Many recognize women with disabilities as all the more disadvantaged, experiencing exclusion on account of both their gender and their disability. Statistics on disability in the Philippines have not been properly established. There is still a heavy reliance on World Health Organization estimates that 10 percent of the country's given population have some form of disability. The Department of Education claims that less than 3 percent of children and youth with disabilities have proper access to education, due to a lack of teachers trained to handle students with special needs and inadequate allocation of resources for educational materials in alternative formats to accommodate their needs.

According to the Philippine Association for Citizens with Developmental and Learning Disabilities, Inc. (PACDLD), there are about 4 million children and youth with disabilities, of whom only 2 percent go to school and 1 percent are properly diagnosed. Attempts to include persons with disability in national census surveys have not been successful for many reasons, including the hesitancy of families to declare that they have members with disabilities. The general lack of reliable data on disabilities also prevents government agencies from knowing the extent to which people with disabilities are included in mainstream social services such as education and healthcare.

Realizing this, The Asia Foundation since 2002 has undertaken several initiatives to raise public awareness of the rights of patients and persons with disability and mobilize public support for their rights. In our most current project, we are collaborating with disabled persons organizations, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), and other NGOs to increase the awareness of the COMELEC and local governments to promote the participation of people with disabilities in elections and other democratic processes. In particular, the program, supported by AusAID, will provide recommendations to the COMELEC to increase disabled people's access to registration sites and polling places in order to reduce or remove constraints they face to freely exercise their right to vote.

To get a more accurate picture of the experiences of people with disabilities in electoral exercises, the Foundation supported focus group discussions among persons with disabilities and representatives of disabled peoples organizations, the COMELEC, National Council on Disability Affairs and election-focused NGOs such as the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL). Conducted by the Social Weather Stations, the FGDs were held in key cities (Quezon City, Laoag, and Puerto Princesa in Luzon, Iloilo in the Visayas, and Zamboanga City in Mindanao).

Source: www.asiafoundation.org/

NGO teaches kids with disability how to socialize

(Dumaguete City, Cris Evert Lato, 16.07.11) Seven-year-old Gabriel “Gabby” Micompal smiles at everyone, addresses elder people either as Ate or Kuya and sings to his heart’s content. The  latest in his repertoire is the inspirational song, “May Bukas Pa (There is Still Tomorrow).”

Gabby is no ordinary child. He has cerebral palsy, an abnormal development or damage in one or more parts of the brain that control muscle tone and movement. But the disability has not stopped him from enjoying the company of other children as a Grade 2 pupil of Dumaguete City Central School.

His favorite subject is English, according to his mother, Januaria. He is adept at some techie gadgets like the laptop, iPad and mp3 player.

His capacity to easily grasp information and his ability to share them with others surprise his mother.

“He likes to have a laptop or mp3 player so he can listen to music,” said Januaria, 54.

Gabby and his mother, a native of Surigao, live under the roof of The Great Physician Rehabilitation Foundation Inc. (GPRehab), a nongovernment organization based in Dumagute City.

The NGO welcomed them in 2005 when Gabby was about a year old. Januaria, a single mother, gave birth to Gabby when she was 46, an event that literally changed her conservative life.

Abandoned

Januaria had been taking various jobs in Manila, which enabled her to save enough money to put up a business.

Then she fell in love with a married man who left her upon learning that she was carrying his child.

Afraid to go home to Mindanao, she asked the help of her niece who lives in Mabinay town, Negros Oriental.

Her niece welcomed her.

She gave birth to Gabby two months earlier than the expected date. The infant was put inside an incubator for two-and-a-half months and was under intensive care. The hospital bills piled up and reached more than P300,000, depleting her savings.

When she ran out of money, Januaria took out the last of her belongings—a ring.  “It was one of those rings I bought when I had money. I went to the pawnshop and the lady told me my ring is worth P2,000. I cried in happiness because it was the exact amount I needed,” she narrates.

Financial assistance and emotional encouragement from friends and a Negros-based philanthropist helped her cope with her situation.

Exception

In 2005, she heard about GPRehab and its free services for people with disabilities.

The GPRehab was established in 2000 to provide free physical, occupational and special education services to differently abled children and adults like Gabby in Negros Oriental.

But it did not accept children below 5 years old at that time. But Januaria and Gabby’s story tugged the heartstrings of the trustees and officers of GPRehab. They allowed the mother and son to live in the GPRehab center in Barangay Calindagan, Dumaguete City.

At least 30 children are under the care of GPRehab but they don’t stay inside the center. They are given transportation allowance to go to the center where they can have their speech, occupational and physical therapy, among others.

Only Gabby and Januaria were allowed to live in the center with the staff members because they are indigents and don’t have relatives in the city.

The mother and son could not also live with Januaria’s niece in Mabinay because the town is 70 kilometers away from Dumaguete.

Heartwarming

Gabby is studying in a public elementary school where children labeled as “normal” by society see him as a functional individual, able to perform activities like them.

One of GPRehab’s beneficiaries is Dave Ryan, a 12-year-old boy with autism. He is one of the outstanding students in Bacong Elementary School.

Vivien Alaban, 9, is deaf but she socializes well with children of her age.

Another GPRehab beneficiary, Abigail is blind and yet she goes to Liptong Elementary School. She is well-loved by her classmates, says her mother Eliza Alviola. A teacher for the blind goes to the school to monitor Abigail’s progress including converting reading materials to Braille.

Abigail lost her sense of sight when she was five because of brain tumor. Eliza went as far as St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City to save Abigail’s vision.

But the doctors told her that they could not give assurance that Abigail’s vision would be restored after the operation. Worse, she could die during the operation.

“I love my child and I want to do everything in my power to help her live a normal life but it was beyond my control … My husband and I decided, Abigail will not have the operation,” she says.

In August 2003, two months after they came home from Manila, Abigail lost her vision. But Abigail is not a picture of a bitter child. She is graduating next year and looks forward to high school. She wants to take up Computer Science in college.

Productive

“Our wish is for her to grow up as a productive member of society. We don’t like the image of blind children walking in the street begging for money. We wish to make Abigail happy and successful in the future,” says Eliza.

The children of GPRehab were active participants during the Inquirer Read-Along session held on July 2 at the World Bank Knowledge for Development Center in Silliman University in Dumaguete.

The Jollibee mascot joined the children after the Read-Along proper. The mothers were equally surprised at seeing the children hug the mascot and take pictures. Jollibee also provided the afternoon snacks.

Stories of Gabby, Abigail, Dave and Vivien prove that children with disabilities can be productive and functional members of society.

The future is bright for these children when they are given opportunities to develop themselves, says GPRehab executive director Analou Suan.

Suan says the organization fights for these children’s inclusion in societal activities, among which is enrolling the children in normal schools and letting them participate in storytelling sessions.

Mothers, children with disabilities and the staff of GPRehab parade on the streets every chance they have to further raise awareness about these children and the roles they can perform in society.

“We all know that inclusion does not come automatically … The best way to let the child put to use all of the skills that he has learned is to educate the community so they will give him the respect and trust that he needs,” she notes.

Source: www.inquirer.net

(Manila 12.02.11) To call attention to people with intellectual disabilities, February 12-18, 2011, is observed as National Intellectual Disability Week. Originally declared as “Retarded Children’s Week” pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1385 in 1975, the celebration later became the “National Mental Retardation Week” and is now National Intellectual Disability Week.

Intellectual disability is defined as a certain limitations in mental functioning and skills. The average person’s intellectual functioning is 100. It is believed that people with an IQ below 70 are considered to have intellectual disability. The disability usually occurs at birth or later in childhood. The intellectually disabled have difficulty in following directions and instructions, solving problems, understanding complex information, and in exercising judgment and abstract thought.

Some of the factors that cause intellectual disability are genetic factors; problems during pregnancy of the mother (heavy alcohol use, infections such as rubella and glandular disorders); problems at birth such as hyperthyroidism, measles, chickenpox, among others; environmental factors such as malnutrition and unhealthy living conditions. There is no cure for intellectual disability but it can be managed through teaching interventions.

Carrying the theme, “Changing Times, Changing Needs: Moving Toward Happiness,” this year’s celebration is part of the observance of the Philippine Decade of Persons with Disabilities (2003-2013) as provided in Presidential Proclamation No. 240. The Department of Education is encouraging all schools, especially those with Special Education programs, to conduct activities such as advocacy campaigns featuring children and youth with disabilities; inviting the public to observe classes and other educational services provided to children and youth with intellectual disability; conducting dialogues with parents, service providers, and other stakeholders on the theme of the celebration; discussing the best practices on the inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities during teachers’ and parents’ meetings; holding cultural shows, camps, sportsfests, photo and work exhibits, and other activities; and encouraging children with intellectual disabilities to tell their stories. The Annual Camp Pag-ibig for children with special needs will be held on February 12-13, 2011, at the Balara Filter Plant in Quezon City.

Let us support the intellectually disabled by joining the activities lined up for the celebration. Let us be agents in helping them in their journey towards the realization of their fullest potentials.

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/