Families
Training Opportunity: Digital Storytelling Project, June 8-12, 2009, for African Youth with Disabilities and Allies
The Secretariat of the African Decade for Persons with Disabilities (SADPD)
APC-Africa-Women and Women’sNet
invite you to
Submit an application to participate in a Digital Storytelling Project
Application DUE 3 May 2009
Workshop dates 8 -12 June 2009
“It’s in the telling of our stories that we discover how much of our experiences and learning we have in common with others. Stories make our connection with others and with the world real. They weave together our individual experiences to reveal a picture of a community, a group and a country.”
Introduction
The Secretariat of the African Decade for Persons with Disabilities (SADPD) in partnership with APC-Africa-Women and Women’sNet, invite you to submit an application to participate in a digital storytelling workshop. We are inviting people living and working in Africa who would like to empower others and affect change by documenting their journey and telling their story. Applicants must be:
(1) parents/carers of children with disabilities and youth
(2) young people with disabilities
(3) people working in organizations to promote the rights of children and youth with disabilities e.g. Advocates, students, CBR workers, teachers, journalists, information activists, content developers, programme officer/managers,
Participants will develop short videos reflecting the experiences of parents and youth with disabilities in particular with regards to challenges and successes in accessing inclusive education, health, employment and acceptance in their communities and country. Participants will also examine the power dimensions of story-telling and how we retain the authenticity of our own voice, as well as the voices of the people whose stories we document, preserve or disseminate.
Parents, youth and individuals working in the field have many stories to tell, but never have the time, knowledge, equipment and space to reflect, understand and tell their own stories, share their responses, understandings and experiences.
There is a large amount of information on the internet but very little that reflects the lived realities of those affected and people working in the field of disability in Africa.
The workshop aims to:
• document real-life stories of a cross-section of parents and youth with disabilities as well as those working in the field
• empower people to tell their own stories, while at the same time create a powerful advocacy tool that can be used in their country and beyond.
• develop Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills,
• enable parents and youth with disabilities to share and network amongst each other.
More about the workshop
In the workshop we will explore people’s own stories and learn how to develop a story line, use photo’s, video clips, and drawings to tell your story in an effective way.
There is space for twelve applicants who will participate in a five day digital storytelling workshop, 8 -12 June 2009.
In the month before the workshop delegates will need to join an online study group, collect content for their story (pictures etc) and begin to learn some of the software.
At the workshop participants will learn to use computer software and other equipment necessary for making a short (3-5 minutes) multimedia digital story.
The digital storytelling workshop is hands-on and computer intensive, requiring commitment and willingness to develop a short, personal story; learn new software and edit a short digital video of five minutes in length.
Digital storytelling is not like writing a formal document; it’s more like creative, autobiographical writing. To see an example, check out the website
http://www.takebackthetech.net
http://www.silencespeaks.org
In order to be eligible to participate, you must be able to attend all five days of the workshop, and be able to travel to South Africa to arrive by 7 June, departing 13 June 2009. Travel and accommodation will be sponsored by the SADPD. You must be willing to allow your story, or part of it, to be used in advocacy by SADPD and APC WNSP’s Take Back the Tech campaign. The workshop will be conducted in ENGLISH so other language speakers must have a good proficiency in English. Sign language and French / Portugese interpretation will be provided if necessary (Please motivate for this in application form).
This workshop is a chance to learn new skills and tell your story in a creative and visual format. It’s a lot of work . . . AND a lot of fun.
Copyright:
All stories are owned by the person who made them. The story is your story and will be licensed under a Creative Commons license. We are open to discussing a formula that respects your privacy and confidentiality should you be uncomfortable with the widespread sharing and dissemination of some parts of your story. We would like your stories to be part of a public effort promote the rights and quality of life for children and youth with disabilities and their families.
Who Should Apply?
• We are looking for stories told by parent, youth and individuals working in the field of Disability.
• Applicants must be living and working in Africa (preference will be given to women)
• Applicants must preferably be based in an organisation, institution or network, but individuals will also be considered.
• Youth should between the ages of 18 – 35
• The training is in English. Participants must speak and understand English but are welcome to produce their story in any language they choose. If however you require translation into French and Portuguese please motivate in your application.
• The story you tell has to be about you and your experiences. It can be about situations or events but it must be a personal story told in the first person
• The workshop requires a basic level of computer literacy.
• Applicants must be willing to avail themselves for future advocacy work or training in digital stories in their country.
Instructions:
Please complete the form below and email it as a file attachment to Nafisa Baboo nafisa@africandecade.co.za
DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS is 3 May 2009. If you have any questions, feel free to email or Skype Nafisa on nafisababoo. Incomplete forms will not be considered for selection.
APPLICATION FORM
Date:
Name:
Address:
Country:
Organisation:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Age:
Date of birth:
Disability:
Support needs (Enlarge print, Braille, translation etc)
Please describe in a few sentences the main point of the story you would like to tell.
What issues does your story address?
What do you hope to get out of the digital storytelling workshop?
Have you talked to anyone about the story you’d like to share, or is this the first time you’ll be talking about it in a group?
If this is your first time talking about it, what do you think it’ll be like for you to share the story with a group of people ?
Please write a draft of the story you’d like to share, below. It should be no more than 500 words (about one and ½ pages, double-spaced, typed). Your story should be written in the first-person. Note: If you’d like to see examples of other people’s digital stories, you can go to http://www.silencespeaks.org or http://www.womensnet.org.za or http://www.takebackthetech.net
Please briefly describe to us what you use computers for.
What is your familiarity with the following Software Programs and Processes? Please put an “x” to the right of the statements that most apply.
Using a PC (Windows Operating System) or a Macintosh Computer
I know nothing
I know next to nothing
I can get around fairly easily
I’m really comfortable
I know a lot
Scanning Photos or Other Images
I know nothing
I know next to nothing
I can get around fairly easily
I’m really comfortable
I know a lot
Adobe Photoshop
I know nothing
I know next to nothing
I can get around fairly easily
I’m really comfortable
I know a lot
Adobe Premiere
I know nothing
I know next to nothing
I can get around fairly easily
I’m really comfortable
I know a lot
Do you know how to (please mark YES or NO)
Open software applications YES/NO
Save documents and find them again YES/NO
How to use a mouse, cut and paste, drag and drop. YES/NO
It would be useful to know the following applications – Microsoft office or Open office, and using web browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.
There are a limited number of spaces in the workshop. So please note that the submission of an application is no guarantee that APC-Africa-Women will be able to support you to attend. Successful applicants will be notified 5th May 2009.
Thank You!
INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS
About the Secretariat of the African Decade for Persons with Disabilities
The African Decade of Persons with Disabilities was proclaimed by the African Union for the period 1999 – 2009. The main goals of the African Decade are to raise awareness about the situation of the estimated 60-80 million persons with disabilities in the region and to identify solutions tailored to the African Experience that enhance participation, equality and empowerment of Africans with Disabilities. The overall aims and priorities of the Decade are stipulated in an AU- Continental Plan of Action. A Secretariat was established to facilitate the realization of these objectives.
The Secretariat is an international Non Governmental Organisation, established in 2004 by all the major Regional Disabled People’s Organisations to give a new dynamism to the implementation of the Continental Plan of Action. It is hosted, at the request of African Union by South Africa in Cape-Town where its headquarters are located. The mission of the Secretariat of the African Decade is to empower Governments, DPO´s, Decade steering committee’s (DSC) and development organizations to work in partnership to include disability and persons with disabilities into policies and programs in all sectors of society. The strategy of action of the Secretariat is to
• Build the capacities of DPOs, persons with disabilities who are most vulnerable and the Decade Steering Committees to enable them to advocate and lobby their respective government so that they integrate disability into all their development processes.
• Advocate and lobby for mainstreaming of disability in the policies and programmes.
• Raise awareness around the main issues related to persons with disabilities in society.
Http://www.sadpd.org
About APC-Africa-Women
APC-Africa-women is the African regional network of the Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP). APC WNSP is a global network of women who support women networking for social change and women’s empowerment, through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). We promote gender equality in the design, development, implementation, access to and use of ICTs and in the policy decisions and frameworks that regulate them. We have a special focus on redressing inequities based on women’s social or ethnic background – through the provision of research, training, information, and support activities in the field of ICT policy, skills-sharing in the access and use of ICT, and women’s network-building.
Http://www.apcwomen.org
APC-Africa-Women hosts Women’s Electronic Network Training (WENT) workshops every two years. WENT workshops aim to build the skills and capacities of women and their organisations to utilise ICTs in women’s empowerment, social development work and policy advocacy. In 2003 participants at WENT Africa developed skills in the repackaging of information through the convergence of old and new technologies using radio and in building websites using a Content Management System. Weaving through the training were sessions on gender and ICT policy issues. In 2005 WENT Africa was hosted in Kampala and using a two-track system, trained women technicians in the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and women managers of NGOs in technology planning. More information can be viewed at http://wentafrica.blogspot.com/
About Women’sNet
Women’sNet works to advance gender equality and justice in South Africa through the use of ICTs by providing training and facilitating content dissemination and creation that supports women, girls, and women’s and gender organisations and networks to take control of their own content and ICT use. The organisation is one of the few working on technology for social change in South Africa, and the first to do this from a gender perspective our work has focused on technology for purpose – strengthening women’s organisations specifically and civil society in general – to use ICTs for achieving gender justice.
Http://www.womensnet.org.za
This announcement was disseminated on the EENET Eastern Africa listserver. All applications and inquiries should please be directed to Nafisa Baboo nafisa@africandecade.co.za , NOT to We Can Do.
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[Published at wecando.wordpress.com (We Can Do)]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Global Forum for Inclusion 2008: Transforming Rights into Action, Nov 17-26, 2008
The following open letter of invitation comes from Diane Richler, President of Inclusion International.
GLOBAL FORUM FOR INCLUSION 2008: Transforming Rights into Action. 17-26 Nov 2008.
The Forum for Inclusion 2008: Transforming Rights into Action is Co-Hosted by Inclusion International and the Canadian Association for Community Living
To be held at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, Canada in November 2008, this Forum will engage self-advocates, families, activists, professionals and partners from around the world. Focused on the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Forum will look at how to transform rights into actions that lead to full inclusion and citizenship for people with intellectual disabilities.
Several events will take place in Ottawa: International Gathering of Families (November 17-18); International Gathering of Self-Advocates (November 17-18); International Conference: Putting the UN Convention into Action for People with Intellectual Disabilities (November 18-19); and Inclusion in Focus: Spotlight on Canada, at the 50th Anniversary Conference of the Canadian Association for Community Living (November 19-21). These events will be followed by study tours in Canada and the United States.
For information on these events, registration, accommodation and more please visit:
WWW.INCLUSION2008.COM Conference information is available in English, French, or Spanish.
If you need letters of invitation or have questions concerning your attendance, please contact
Raquel González R.Gonzalez@uel.ac.uk
We hope to see you there!
Diane Richler
President of Inclusion International
Thank you to Inclusion International for sending this announcement to be posted here. Interested parties should please contact them directly to inquire about the conference, NOT We Can Do.
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Ayudar a los niños sordos–en español: New Hesperian Foundation Title in Spanish
BILINGUAL POST in English and Spanish; bilingual articulo en ingles y español. (¡Ojala que mi español es bastante claro!)
The Hesperian Foundation has released its book entitled Helping Children Who Are Deaf in Spanish for the first time. It can be downloaded in PDF format for free, one chapter at a time.
El “Hesperian Foundation” ha publicado el libro, Ayudar a los niños sordos, en español. Se puede transferido el libro sin coste (en formato PDF) un capítulo a la vez.
Says, the Hesperian Foundation, “Ayudar a los niños sordos (Helping Children Who Are Deaf in Spanish) supports parents and other caregivers in building the communication skills of babies and young children. Packed with simple activities, this book is a great resource for people who care for children who do not hear well including parents, caregivers, health promoters, and
others in teaching a deaf child how to communicate to the best of his or her ability.”
El Hesperian Foundation ha dicho, “Ayudar a los niños sordos apoyo familiar y comunitario para niños que no oyen bien. Los niños que no pueden oír bien necesitan más ayuda para aprender un idioma hablado o un lenguaje de señas, lo cual es muy importante, porque el lenguaje es la base para pensar, solucionar problemas y relacionarnos con otras personas. Este libro está lleno de actividades sencillas y será un gran recurso para las personas que cuidan de niños sordos, ya sean padres, otros cuidadores y/o promotores de salud, ya que les ofrece herramientas para enseñarle al niño a comunicarse lo mejor que pueda.”
http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download_Sordos.php
The Hesperian Foundation produces a wide range of books for people and organizations in developing countries. It’s most famous book is “Where There is No Doctor,” which has helped many workers in rural areas save lives.
El Hesperian Foundation se publica muchos libros varios para personas y organizaciones en países en desarrollo. El libro más famoso es “Donde no hay medico,” lo cual ha ayuda mucho personas en areas campos salvar las vidas.
Download Ayudar a los niños sordos en español at http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download_Sordos.php
Hesperian Foundation has many other books that can be downloaded for free. Most are in English, some are in Spanish, and one is in French. You can find these at http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download.php
El Hesperian Foundation tiene muchos libros libres. Todos son en ingles. Algunos son en español. Uno es en francés. Se puede encontrar todos a http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download.php
I learned about this book through an announcement from the Hesperian Foundation.
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Deaf Child Worldwide Launches Family Friendly Resource
Deaf Child Worldwide News Release
For release: Thursday 1 May 2008
Deaf Child Worldwide launches Family Friendly resource
Deaf Child Worldwide, the only UK-based international development agency dedicated to enabling deaf children to overcome poverty and isolation, has launched a new action learning resource to help organisations working with deaf children and families throughout the world.
‘Family Friendly – working with deaf children and their communities worldwide’ has been produced to raise awareness of the important role that parents and families can play in the lives of their deaf children and in their communities.
Sofia Garavito, Director of Deaf Child Worldwide, explains:
“Families with deaf children in developing countries face some huge challenges, the biggest one being widespread poverty. For this reason, family priorities are focused on finding a way to look after the basic needs of their children and less time is available for engaging with and finding out the best way to support the development of their deaf children.
“The Family Friendly resource has been designed to help families with deaf children and the organisations working with them to learn quickly and easily how they can help improve the lives of deaf children by working together, or though self-help initiatives.”
The resource is based on real-life examples and is packed with case studies written by parents and practitioners in over 20 countries around the world.
“A very great job has been done; this is a beautiful book – interesting and inspiring. We are sure the book will be very useful to many organizations and families with deaf children worldwide.” Joana Vanagiene Association of Families with Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children, Lithuania
“This book looks great and will be very useful to several of our programmes. Can we have 50 copies please?” Helen Pinnock, Education Advisor, Save the Children UK.
“This book will be an inspiration to all who read it and it will really help to make sure best practices are replicated all over the world” George Gachanja, Kenya Society for Deaf Children
For a free copy of Family Friendly, contact Deaf Child Worldwide by email info@deafchildworldwide.org or write to Deaf Child Worldwide at 15 Dufferin St, London, EC1Y 8UR. You can also download a copy from www.deafchildworldwide.info
- Deaf Child Worldwide is the only UK based international development agency dedicated to enabling deaf children to overcome poverty and isolation.
- We work with partners in the countries where need is the greatest throughout the world and we are the international development agency of the National Deaf Children’s Society in the UK.
- There are 20 million deaf children worldwide, 80 per cent of whom live in the developing world. 98 per cent of all disabled children in the world do not go to school.
- For many children and families a diagnosis of deafness means a life of inequality and isolation.
- For more information about Deaf Child Worldwide, visit www.deafchildworldwide.org
Thank you to Deaf Child Worldwide for submitting this announcement to We Can Do for publication.
We Can Do readers who share an interest in working with the families of deaf or other disabled children may also wish to consult various books from the Hesperian Foundation on taking care of people’s health and raising children who are deaf, blind, or have other disabilities.
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RESOURCE: Brochure on People with Intellectual Disabilities and Disability Rights Treaty
People with intellectual disabilities around the world face enormous challenges in realizing basic human rights such as access to education; legal capacity (the right to make their own decisions); the right to live with their families; and the right to live in the community–not an institution. The new disability rights treaty–the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)–is designed in part to help with these challenges. The CRPD, which has now been ratified by 24 countries, will enter into force on May 3, 2008 simultaneously with the Optional Protocol, which has been ratified by 14 countries.
But how can people with intellectual disabilities and their families use the CRPD to achieve their human rights? And how can people who create and implement policy support their efforts? A new brochure from Inclusion International (PDF format, 585 Kb) provides guidance. The eight-page brochure summarizes how people with intellectual disabilities and their families around the world helped to create the CRPD; how the CRPD helps address some of their key human rights concerns; and the important role of families in guiding, developing, and implementing policies.
The English version of the brochure can be downloaded in PDF format (585 Kb) at:
http://inclusion-international.org/site_uploads/File/HearOurVoices-Priority%20Web.08.pdf
The Arabic version of the brochure (without pictures) can be downloaded in Word format (515 Kb) at:
http://inclusion-international.org/site_uploads/File/CRPD%20arab.doc
We Can Do learned of this brochure through the Disabled People International (DPI) e-newsletter.
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We Can Do Copyright
This blog post is copyrighted to We Can Do (wecando.wordpress.com). Currently, only two web sites have on-going permission to syndicate (re-post) We Can Do blog posts in full: BlogAfrica.com and www.RatifyNow.org. Other sites are most likely plagiarizing this post without permission.
RESOURCE: Listening to Poor People with Intellectual Disabilities
In Their Own Words
A report from Inclusion International can help people better understand poverty among people with intellectual disabilities in developing countries.
Nobody knows more than a poor person what it means to live with poverty or what the biggest barriers are to escaping it. And nobody knows more than a person who is excluded how devastating it can be to be constantly pushed to the margins of society. And it is poor, excluded people who see most clearly exactly what needs to change to bring them out of poverty and into the mainstream.
It is the obligation of anyone who wants to improve the living conditions of the poor and the excluded to listen to their stories–and their proposed solutions–in their own words. If we fail to listen, we will inevitably fail to help.
Documented Information = A Tool for Advocates
For some We Can Do readers, listening to the poor and marginalized in developing countries can be as easy as stepping out their front door and talking to the people in their local communities. But even the most knowledgeable advocates may struggle to communicate what they know to non-disabled people in their country in a way that others will both understand and believe. In particular, they may need a way to strengthen their voices when educating funding agencies that have the power to support or turn away their organization. Advocates can use published research or reports to help others understand that poverty and exclusion among people with disabilities are not just “isolated cases” or “too few in number” to be worth targeted efforts.
A report entitled “Hear Our Voices: A Global Report: People with an Intellectual Disabilities and their Families Speak Out on Poverty and Exclusion,” published by Inclusion International in November 2006, helps share insights into how intellectual disability can lead to poverty and exclusion. “Hear Our Voices” also makes recommendations for action. The report was made possible with the partnership and financial support of the Norwegian Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, NFU, and the Atlas Alliance of Norway.
How “Hear Our Voices” Was Made
Inclusion International (II) is a global federation of family-based organizations advocating for the human rights of people with intellectual disabilities worldwide. It spoke with people with intellectual disabilities, their families, and supporters in more than 80 countries about the experience of intellectual disability and poverty. “Hear Our Voices” combines personal with secondary research sources to analyze how well each of the eight Millennium Development Goals for fighting poverty are being met for people with intellectual disabilities. The report makes recommendations for how civil society organizations, governments and donor and international agencies can each play a role in ending poverty and exclusion among people with intellectual disabilities.
In the acknowledgments page of their report, Inclusion International points out that people with intellectual disabilities “are too often invisible,” which means that “their stories are not influencing decisions that affect their lives.” Inclusion International explains, “We wanted to bring about change on a global scale – by convincing governments, multi-lateral institutions, and communities of the current injustice of exclusion. Where before our members’ voices were not being heard because they were isolated, we wanted to bring them together into a loud chorus. We wanted to link those local voices to bring about global change.” (p. viii)
What Next?
Here, Inclusion International’s focus is on people with intellectual disabilities. But people who are deaf, blind, have mobility impairments, autism, psycho-social disabilities, or other disabilities are also “invisible” in society—whether or not they are poor. And all poor people also are invisible–whether or not they have disabilities. Disabled poor people, their stories, and their ideas for how to solve their own problems, are too rarely heard when people with power make choices that affect their lives.
Perhaps Inclusion International’s report could inspire other global organizations to do the research for more reports like it. Advocates could then use these reports to help amplify the voices (and signs) of disabled (and deaf/Deaf) people living in poverty around the world.
Read the Report, Watch the Video
The full 79 page report can be downloaded for free in English in PDF format (500 Kb) at
http://www.inclusion-international.org/report/Hear_Our_Voices_English.pdf
The report is also available in a 10-minute DVD (video). This video is not captioned. There are many pictures and only an occasional line of text on the screen that is used to highlight key statistics or other information. I’m guessing there is also some kind of narration–but this is not accessible to deaf viewers. I’m not in a position to evaluate whether this DVD would be accessible or usable to hearing people with vision impairments. If you are, please do comment below.
The DVD can be viewed at:
http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j194/raqueldejuan/?action=view¤t=PhotoStory8.flv
The report and DVD are also available in Spanish at:
http://www.inclusion-international.org/sp/report/index.html
We Can Do learned about the “Hear Our Voices” report by browsing Inclusion International’s web site. The information for this blog post was gathered from their web site and particularly from the report itself.
Find more information about disabled poor people around the world by click on “reports” or “resources” under “categories” in the right-hand navigation bar on this page. Or consult the recent Retrospective post under “Finding sources of information.”
Learn how to receive an email alert when new material is posted at We Can Do. Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 6 so far )
News at Your Fingertips
I have now added a page to the top navigation bar, News, that consolidates all the news and press releases posted at We Can Do since this blog began.
I mostly cribbed this new page from the work I did recently for the We Can Do Retrospective: The First 100 Posts (and Then Some). However, if you compare the two, you will see that there are more items listed under the “News” page in the top navigation bar than there are in the Retrospective post. That’s because, when I wrote the Retrospective post, I made a rule with myself that each We Can Do post would be listed only once, even if it arguably belonged in more than one category. Some of the “news” items reported new resources that might still be helpful for readers months or years from now. So I listed those items under “Resources” in the Retrospective post instead of news. But for the “News” page in the navigation bar, I made sure to include anything that was tagged as “news” when it was first posted.
I will try to keep the “News” page up to date. You will notice that it already includes one news item that has gone up since the Retrospective post.
Learn how to receive an email alert when new material is posted at We Can Do. Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )
We Can Do Retrospective: The First 100 Posts (and Then Some)
Skip introduction, go straight to the Table of Contents
If you’re new to We Can Do, what interesting information, news, or resources might you have overlooked from the past few months? Although some older items may no longer be interesting, others may still be relevant and helpful a year or three from now. This post can help guide you through the first 100-plus posts at this blog. You can click from the table of contents below to any section of this page that interests you–and then another click on “table of contents” can take you back to the contents, or “top of this page” takes you back to this introduction.
- About We Can Do
- The five most popular We Can Do posts
- The five most under-rated We Can Do posts
- Finding Practical Resources and Case Studies, or Helpful Organizations
- Finding sources of information, research, papers, or statistics
- Funding sources: leads on where to find funding support
- Academic papers related to disabled people in developing countries
- News related to disabled people in developing countries
- Opinion pieces
- Call for papers for conferences and journals
- International Conference and Event Announcements
- Job, internship, and volunteer opportunities
- Education and training opportunities
- Missed opportunities for events, jobs, etc.
- What’s next for We Can Do?
Table of Contents; Top of this page
About We Can Do
To learn more about the purpose of We Can Do, see About We Can Do. For more on its guiding philosophy, go to Why We Can Do.
Thinking about submitting your own written materials, job posts, conference announcements, or resources to We Can Do? Check the Wish list for written materials and resources.
Want to receive an alert in email when a new post goes up at We Can Do? You can Subscribe to We Can Do for free.
I changed the organization and appearance of We Can Do in early October to its present format.
Table of Contents; Top of this page
The Five Most Popular We Can Do posts
The five listed here are the ones that have attracted the most “page views” since We Can Do began in late July. You may notice that not all of these are featured in the 10 “most popular posts” listed in the right-hand navigation bar. That’s because the navigation bar only lists posts that have received a lot of traffic very recently (I think within the past few days; its done automatically by wordpress so I’m not sure how it works). But here I’m listing the five that have the highest TOTAL page views.
- An announcement about the International Day of Disabled Persons, held on December 3, 2007, has received more than 600 hits.
- More than 500 We Can Do readers were especially anxious to learn more about some limited available funding for conference participation from developing nations.
- More than 400 readers wanted to learn from a Case study on early intervention for blind children.
- The international Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) in plain language has attracted more than 400 readers. This version of the CRPD was written for people who have trouble understanding the legal language of the original, or who want a tool to help them translate the CRPD into another language.
- More than 400 people have learned more About We Can Do.
Table of Contents; Top of this page
The Five Most Under-Rated We Can Do posts
Are these posts really under-rated? You’ll have to read them and decide for yourself. But in choosing these five, I used two criteria: 1. These are posts that have received fewer than 100 visitors–sometimes far fewer. 2. These are posts that I think could be helpful or interesting to readers and maybe deserve more attention than they have gotten. These are in no particular order:
- See Finding development organizations and resources for a link that can help you find major international development organizations and funders. Some of these organizations already work on disability issues and may be interested in building new partnerships with new DPOs, development organizations, and other NGOs.
- Equipment that enables blind people in industrialized countries to read computer screens can be expensive. But new technology can help bring screen readers and magnifiers to blind people in developing countries. The Sightsaver’s Dolphin Pen is cheaper, which means it is easier to afford in countries where the average income may be only a few hundred dollars per person per year.
- Looking for statistics to back up your arguments, or to add to your literature review for your dissertation? You can consult Numbers Don’t Feed People–Or Do They?” for a few leads.
- Want to help teach disabled people in your country about the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)? Handicap International has developd a teaching kit on the CRPD with suggested teaching points, power point programs, Word files and PDF files.
- Teachers, parents, and other advocates for children can use the Child-friendly version of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to teach both disabled and non-disabled children about disability rights.
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Finding Practical Resources and Case Studies or Helpful Organizations
Finding organizations; Resources for inclusive development; Human rights resources; Case studies; Other helpful resources
Finding organizations
Mainstream international development agencies sometimes say that they don’t know how to find people with disabilities, or their representative organizations, in the developing countries where they work. Reviewing the July post entitled Finding Local Disability Organizations may help point you in the right direction. Also see Disability Organizations in Afghanistan, Asia, Kenya, Uganda.
Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) sometimes aren’t sure where to find mainstream development organizations and resources that might be willing to collaborate with them.
There is an international network of organizations for families of people with Rubinstein Taybi Syndrome.
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Resources for Inclusive Development
Both disability advocates and mainstream development organizations want to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind when countries and organizations fight poverty or improve public health, education, water, and other services. But it can be a challenge to figure out how to make projects and government policies more inclusive. The following resources can help:
- Making Poverty Reduction Strategies Inclusive: for disability advocates and other individuals or organizations that want to help national government policies become more inclusive of disabled people when they fight poverty. This handbook can be downloaded for free.
- Handbook on Mainstreaming Disability, for mainstream international development organizations written by Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO). Download for free.
- An On-line book on Universal Design and Visitability can be downloaded for free.
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Resources on the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
By now, you may be aware that a global movement is taking place to ratify the international disability rights treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Many relevant resources are now being produced in relation to the CRPD, some of which have been posted or featured here at We Can Do:
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Case Studies
Reviewing case studies of projects implemented elsewhere can be a valuable source of ideas that could help you figure out how to run or implement your own projects. I would love to post many more best-practice and failed-practice case studies than I have available right now. If you think you have something worth sharing, please check my Wish List of Written Materials and Resource and contact me at ashettle [at] patriot.net.
But for now, here are two case studies:
- A Case Study about an Early intervention program for blind children in Russia
- a collection of short case summaries of projects for deaf children in Burkino Faso, Zimbabwe, Somaliland, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, and India
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- A set of Recommendations on how to empower people with intellectual disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region was developed at a conference held in the region in October 2007.
- A dictionary for Sri Lankan Sign Language has been published.
- A new device functions as a screen reader or magnifier for blind people in developing countries: this Sightsavers’ Dolphin Pen is cheaper than the standard screen readers used in industrialized countries. That helps bring it within reach of a wider number of blind people even in countries where the average income is very low.
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Finding Useful Sources of Information and Research
Finding academic research, papers, resources, or statistics
Looking for academic research and academic papers; resources that can be used by people working in the field; or sources of statistics? Some of the following posts may be helpful:
- Disability Knowledge: Hungarian and English
- Numbers Don’t Feed People–Or Do They? On finding statistics relevant to disabled people in developing countries
Information on people with disabilities
Interested in learning about the living conditions of people with disabilities in specific nations, or in specific thematic areas? Some of the following may be of interest:
- Report on Disabled People in Zimbabwe
- World Bank Report on Disabled people in India
- A report on research capacity on mental health in low- and middle-income countries was published by the Global Forum for Health Research on Mental Health Day in October 2007.
- The International Labour Organization (ILO) published a report on employment and people with disabilities, which calls for more active and sustained efforts to increase the employment of people with disabilities in part to help meet the Millennium Development Goals.
- An early post reviews information on deaf children with additional disabilities and resources available for them in developing countries.
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Funding Sources
- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) may have some funding for DPOs, NGOs, or other entities to be used for disability inclusion.
- The Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) has come out with a resource that could help women’s organizations find funding.
- The Worldwide Initiative for Grantmaker Support (WINGS) Global Fund for Community Foundations makes grants of up to $50,000 USD to emerging and developing community foundations or support organizations in developing countries. Note that these funds are NOT meant for individual non-government organizations (NGOs) but for small FOUNDATIONS or organizations meant to SUPPORT NGOs.
- The United Nations Democracy Fund holds an annual competition for funding applications for projects to promote better democratic participation. The 2007 deadline is December 18. Missed it? Review their information carefully and consider preparing early for their next funding round.
- Looking for funding to attend an international or local conference? three organizations have some limited funds available for conference participation from developing countries; two of these are focused on Latin America, but the first one listed (the Ford Foundation) covers other regions as well.
- The Inter-American
Foundations Grassroots Development Fellowship Program offers research fellowships to doctorate (PhD) students who want to study grassroots movements among poor people in Latin America. The application deadline is January 22, 2008. - Funding is available for South Asian projects on HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination; the application deadline is January 31, 2008.
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Academic Papers
We Can Do has published, or re-published, academic papers, or linked to same, on a range of subjects, including:
- Violence against blind and visually impaired girls in school in Malawi by Abigail Suka
- Changing Face of Disability Movement: from Charity to Empowerment by Kishor Bhanushali
- Impact of the South Asian Earthquake on Disabled People in the State of Jammu and Kashmir by Dr. Parvinder Singh
- Equalizing Educational Opportunity for the Nigerian-Ghanaian Blind Girl Child by Florence Banku Obi.
- Violence Against Women with Disabilities in South Africa by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa.
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News
September 2007; October 2007; November 2007; Early December 2007
September 2007
At one point in September, the international disability community prematurely thought we might be On the Verge of Making History by ratifying the disability rights community.
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- In October, We Can Do reported that Gabon and India ratified, and Cambodia signed, the International CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities).
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated a project improving access to services for people with psycho-social (psychiatric) disabilities.
- An activist, Mussa Chiwaula, has been lobbying the Malawi government for disability rights.
- Read a report on the first known African deaf HIV/AIDS workshop.
- Mental Disabilities Rights International (MDRI) reports severe abuse and human rights violations of people with mental disabilities in Argentina.
- A Report was issued on a disability forum held in Pakistan.
A polio immunization drive was launched in Sudan.
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- Mugiho Takeshita at the UNDP’s Crisis Prevention and Recovery was seeking information on implementing the CRPD in relation to crisis prevention and recovery for disabilities caused by violence and natural disaster.
- A Report was issued from the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters Conference that was held in Spain in July 2007.
- Mental Disabilities Rights International (MDRI) reports on human rights abuses of disabled children and adults in Serbia.
- The Commonwealth Disabled People’s Conference issued a Memorandum calling for Commonwealth countries to support the CRPD.
- A Brazilian journalist and disability advocate received the International Service Human Rights Award for her defense of the human rights of people with disabilities.
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- The International Day of Disabled Persons was held on December 3, 2007.
- A web site on Disability Awareness Week in India was launched.
- Disability advocates have launched a global campaign to ratify the international disability rights treaty.
- The United Nations Secretary General made a statement in support of employing disabled people.
- People in India celebrated the International Day of Disabled Persons.
- Rosangela Berman Bieler made a statement on receiving the International Services Human Rights Award.
- Read a summary of a round table discussion on disability rights in Bangladesh, which held in December 2007.
- Bangladesh, Spain, Namibia, and Nicaragua ratify the international disability rights treaty (CRPD).
- El Salvador, Mexico ratify the CRPD.
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Opinion Pieces
So far, the opinion pieces here are all by me. But I would like for We Can Do to be host to an active exchange of ideas and differing perspectives. If you have a strong opinion about something, please consider submitting it. Yes, that includes opinions that disagree with mine! Consult the Wish list for written materials and resources for ideas of the kinds of topics I’m trying to cover at We Can Do.
Meanwhile, here are a few of my own opinion pieces:
- Dying for Employment
- Channeling Remittances from Disabled Emigrants
- One Laptop Per Child–But is it Inclusive?
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Call for Papers (for Conferences, Journals, Other)
You might be just now starting your academic career as an undergraduate or graduate student. Or perhaps you have been doing quantitative or qualitative research, or writing policy analysis, or case studies, or social analysis, for years. Either way, if you’re looking for opportunities to present, publish, or otherwise disseminate your papers or run a workshop, then check out these upcoming or ongoing opportunities:
- A Call for proposals for an international forum on women’s rights and development is open until January 28, 2008. The conference itself will be in November 2008.
- A Call for papers for the International Conference on Social Science Research Methodologies is open until February 2008. The conference itself will be in September 2008.
- Authors are needed to Write book chapters for a book to be entitled, “Post-Conflict Rehabilitation: Creating a Trauma Membrane for Individuals and Communities and Restructuring Lives after Trauma”.
- If you have ever written a paper about the World Bank for a class or for a dissertation during your post-secondary education, then you can share your university papers on the World Bank.
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International Conferences and Events
Looking for a conference to attend? Here are a few upcoming events:
January 2008; February 2008; March 2008; April 2008; May 2008; August 2008; September 2008; November 2008
January 2008
The South Asian Conference on Autism is being held in New Delhi, India in January 2008.
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March 2008
The 8th annual meeting of the Gulf Disability Society will meet in United Arab Emirates in March 2008.
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- The Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities will meet in the Hawaii islands, USA, in April 2008.
- The 8th Symposium of the Arab Federation of the Organs of the Deaf “Improving Education and Rehabilitation of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing People” will be held in Saudi Arabia in April 2008.
- The Unite for Sight International Health Confernece will be held at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA in April 2008.
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- The Conference on the International Convention on the Rights of Persons on Disabilities will be held in Ethiopia in May 2008.
- The i-CREATE International Conference on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology will be held in Thailand in May 2008.
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- The 21st World Congress of Rehabilitation International will meet in Quebec in August 2008.
- The International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication conference will be held in Montreal, Canada, in August 2008.
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- The International Conference on Social Science Research Methodologies will meet in South Africa in September 2008. A Call for Paper/Presentation Abstracts is open until February 2008.
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November 2008
The Association on Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)’s International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development will be held in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2008. A call for proposals is open until January 28, 2008.
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Jobs, Internships, Volunteer Opportunities
We Can Do will probably never be a comprehensive job-board. Serious job, internship, or volunteer placement hunters will want to explore other means of finding opportunities. For example, jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities in the international field generally, or in the disability field generally, can sometimes be found at www.idealist.org. But I do occasionally happen to come across a job announcement. Here are a few that may still be open to applications:
- Three job posts are available in Luanda, Angola; the deadline for these is December 31, 2007.
- On-line translators for a corporate social responsibility initiative called “Disability Focus”. Contact organization to inquire regarding deadline.
- The United Nations is seeking a Senior Social Affairs Officer, P-5. The application deadline is January 14, 2008.
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Education and Training Opportunities
- Leadership training for women with disabilities in South Asia will be available in February 2008.
- Mobility International USA is recruiting men and women with disabilities from Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru for the International Leadership Employment and Disability (I-LEAD) program for 21 days in March 2008 in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
- Study human rights at Central European University, for grassroots activists for human rights involved with a local non-government organization (NGO), or for lawyers with an interest in human rights.
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Missed Opportunities
Missed call for papers; Missed training opportunities; Missed job, internship, and volunteer opportunities; Missed events and conferences
Some of the material I post at We Can Do is time-sensitive material. That means the conferences announced here have come and gone; job posts have been filled; and deadlines are over. So, if it’s too late for you to do anything about any of the following announcements, then why bother listing them? First, some conference organizers issue compilations of papers and presentations or other interesting materials after their event is over. If a topic interests you, it may be worth communicating with event organizers to see if any follow-up publications are available. Second, organizations that offer one conference, job opportunity, call for papers, etc., may offer something similar in the future. Many conferences, for example, meet every one, two, three, or four years. Monitoring, joining, or communicating with organizations of interest to you could help ensure that you learn about the next opportunity in time to plan for it.
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Missed Call for Papers
The German Journal for Disability and Development called for papers on art and disabilities to be submitted by the end of November 2007.
Also browse through the listing of upcoming conferences and missed conferences.
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In October 2007, the International Labour Organisation had a training course for professionals from developing countries.
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Missed Jobs, Internships, and Volunteer Opportunities
Remember that it is too late to apply for these specific opportunities. These are listed here in case you want to check out the sponsoring organizations for future opportunities like these:
- Technical Officer: Disability and Rehabilitation, at the World Health Organization
- Executive Director of the Global Partnership for Disability and Development
- Volunteer Opportunity with VSO in Kenya
- Technical Coordinator in Disability in Bangladesh
- Regional Coordinator, South Asia
- English teacher for deaf adults in Jamaica
- Technical Officer: Injuries, violence prevention, disabilities, and rehabilitation, at the World Health Organization
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Missed Event and Conference Opportunities
- The Commonwealth disabled peoples conference in Uganda was held in November 2007. Participants at that conference issued a memorandum asking commonwealth countries to support the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- The International Conference on Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Emergency Situations was held in Germany in November 2007.
- A conference was held by the Community Based Rehabilitation African Network on Inclusive Policy in South Africa in November 2007.
- An international conference on intellectual disabilities and mental retardation was held in Thailand in November 2007.
- The 7th International Seminar on Housing the Poor was held in Thailand in November 2007.
- An on-line forum on the sexual and reproductive health of people with disabilities was held via e-mail in November.
- A national conference on the CRPD was held in India in early December 2007.
- An on-line forum on successful family planning programs held in December 2007; people may also wish to full out a survey on this topic.
- A photo competition on decent work and people with disabilities was held by the International Labour Organization, ending in November 2007.
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What’s Next for We Can Do?
I am not yet satisfied with We Can Do. I still see many gaps that I want to repair. I want to find, and post, more materials of a pragmatic nature. By which I mean, material that people in the field can put to immediate use in improving the lives of disabled people in developing countries. If you think you can help me locate helpful materials, please review my Wish list for written materials and resources and contact me.
I also want to reach more development professionals at mainstream development organizations and more employees and volunteers at international disability organizations. And I want to reach more small DPOs and individual advocates in more developing countries. The knowledge shared at We Can Do cannot help until it is brought to people with disabilities living in poverty in developing countries. That “final mile” can only be bridged by readers like YOU.
If you want to help, I hope you will consider telling your colleagues and contacts about We Can Do. If you run a web site or a blog, please consider linking to We Can Do at https://wecando.wordpress.com. If you have the skills, the time, and the commitment to launch a We Can Do mirror site translation into some other language, please talk to me (leave a comment or email me at ashettle [at] patriot.net). And please do feel free to print out the more helpful We Can Do posts to share with people you know in developing countries who do not have easy access to the Internet.
For those of you who like numbers: We Can Do had 285 page views in July; 851 in August; 1305 in September; 2936 in October; 4862 in November; and more than 5100 in the first three weeks of December. And who is responsible for making these numbers happen? Why—you, of course! So, thank you for visiting We Can Do.
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )SURVEY and FORUM on Successful Family Planning Programs
What makes a family planning program successful? The Information and Knowledge for Optimal Health (INFO) Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in collaboration with the the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Implementing Best Practices(IBP) Initiative, invites you to
share your opinions in a short survey on Elements of Successful Family Planning Programs; follow the link to:
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB22786ZF78CZ
This survey is not focused specifically on disability issues in family planning. However, survey participants can use the open-ended questions to explain their own perspectives on familiy planning issues. This could be an opportunity to help ensure that the people conducting the survey are aware of the importance of disability inclusion in family planning
efforts.
Interested in the survey results? What more information on this topic? You may also wish to register for a free online discussion forum, entitled “Elements of Successful Family Planning Programs,” from Monday, December 10th through December 21, 2007.
Read more about the forum at: http://my.ibpinitiative.org/public/ElementsofFPSuccess/
Again, this forum is not focused specifically on disability issues in developing countries. But for people who are interested in family planning among disabled people internationally, this forum could be an opportunity to ensure that your voices are heard (or read!) among mainstream professionals.
Register for the forum at: http://my.ibpinitiative.org/public/Register.aspx?c=2d6a569b-e335-4e83-ba34-3b8366761cfe
After you register for the forum, you can participate in the forum at: http://my.ibpinitiative.org/community.aspx?c=2d6a569b-e335-4e83-ba34-3b8366761cfe
Please share this announcement with your friends and colleagues. Thank you for your participation!
We Can Do received this announcement via the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Persons with Disabilities forum that was recently sponsored through the (IBP) Initiative. I modified it slightly.
Learn how to receive an email alert when new material is posted at We Can Do.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 11 so far )Please Submit YOUR Materials to We Can Do
Currently, We Can Do gathers news; announcements; academic papers; case studies; opinion pieces; information about resources; and other materials of interest to disabled advocates and international development professionals from a wide range of sources. In addition to these, from time to time, I write fresh content of my own.
I also hope to be able to depend heavily on YOU–We Can Do readers–for some of the best, most interesting, and helpful materials. Examples of materials that would interest me include, but are not limited to: “best practice” case studies; “failed practice” case studies; checklists; fundraising advice or resources; other pragmatic resources; academic papers or reports; student projects; press releases; opinion pieces; announcements; and more. For more detail, please click on “Wish List for Written Materials and Resources” at the top navigation bar.
If you can assist with my current top priority, or with any of the other items in my “wish list”, then PLEASE GET IN TOUCH. Email me at ashettle at patriot dot net or leave a short note in the comment area below and I’ll contact you.
Current Top Priority for We Can Do
Are you from Croatia, Cuba, Gabon, Hungary, India, Jamaica, or Panama? If so, were you involved with the movement to persuade your government to sign and ratify the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)? If so PLEASE CONTACT ME (ashettle at patriot dot net, or leave a comment below with your email address).
I want to interview people involved with these movements (via email) so I can write a story describing what strategies you used; any barriers you faced along the way; how you overcame these barriers; any mistakes you made, how you corrected them, and how other countries can avoid them; what activities or techniques you think were the most critical to your success; and so forth. Sharing this type of information at We Can Do–and elsewhere–could be immensely helpful to disability movements in other countries that are working toward the same goals.
My primary written language is English, pero puedo escribir y leer, mas o menos, en espanol tambien. (Lo siento para la mala ortografia–no se como crear acentos en WordPress.) Once we are in contact, I will probably have many questions for you–and follow up questions after that!
Thank you for helping make We Can Do become a strong, good-quality resource for people with disabilities in developing countries and the people who are working hard to meet their needs.
Edited to Add: I do not post my full email address because any recognizable email address posted on the web then immediately becomes the target of “spam harvesters” and starts receiving tons of unwanted, unsolicited commercial emails. But I spelled it out above and spell it out again here. But this time I’m amplifying it because I realize that not all people have learned how to parse spelled out email addresses:
My username is: ashettle
Every email address has an @ at sign @ between the user name and the domain name, thus ashettle@
My email domain is patriot.net
Put it all together and you have my email address.
Or if that is still too confusing–or if it’s just easier for you–then feel free to leave a note below (with your email address in the area provided for it) and I’ll get in touch.
Learn how to receive an email alert when new material is posted at We Can Do.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 4 so far )Rubinstein Taybi Syndrome: Support for Families
For many parents of disabled children, their own child may be the first person they have ever met who has a disability. Any of us may feel frightened when we are first exposed to something unfamiliar simply because we cannot be sure what to expect. It can be even more frightening when the unfamiliar affects your own child–especially if you had always assumed until then that disabled people necessarily lead tragic lives of deprivation and suffering.
Support groups and networks can be invaluable in helping reassure families that a happy and fulfilled life is still possible after a diagnosis. It may be a very different life, with a very different daily routine than they had planned upon when starting their family. But it can be just as rewarding.
But what if the affected child has a rare disability–so rare that your child might be the only person with that disability in your entire city? Even if your city has as many as 100 to 300 thousand people? And what if you are also in a developing nation where resources of any kind for people with disabilities are rare and hard to find? Such is the case for families of people with Rubinstein Taybi syndrome.
Rubinstein Taybi syndrome generally involves some degree of cognitive impairment and an assortment of medical problems that might include feeding problems, respiratory infections, ear and eye infections, cataracts or glaucoma, and heart problems.
One American organization for families of people with Rubinstein Taybi syndrome has established a web site that has links to similar organizations around the world. Not surprisingly, most of these organizations are in high-income countries, particularly in Europe. However the web site indicates that sometimes smaller, more informal support networks may still exist in some countries even if there is no official organization there. It is also possible for family members to join a mailing list (via email) that currently has 180 members from two dozen different countries.
The full list of organizations, and instructions for joining the email discussion group, can be consulted at:
http://www.rubinstein-taybi.org/html/organizations.html
Official organizations appear to exist–or at least have web sites in–only two middle-income countries and no low-income countries.
The Argentina page (in Spanish) can be found at:
http://www.rubinsteintaybi.com.ar/
The Brazil page (in Portuguese) can be found at:
Learn how to receive an email alert when new material is posted at We Can Do.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 4 so far )IDCS Newsletter: Deaf Children, Families, and Schools
Thank you to the International Deaf Children’s Society (IDCS) for granting their permission to repost their newsletter at We Can Do. This newsletter contains information about a range of programs targeted at deaf children and their families and schools in Burkino Faso; Zimbabwe; Somaliland; Kazakhstan; Afghanistan; and India.
Note that IDCS would like to receive stories about your experiences in supporting families in improving their ability to communicate with their deaf children for possible use in their next newsletter. Their deadline is October 10, 2007; see the bottom of this post for more detail.
August 29, 2007
Learning from Each Other: An Update from the IDCS Network
The International Deaf Children’s Society (IDCS) is the international development wing of The National Deaf Children’s Society in the UK.
Families and schools
In this issue of Learning from Each Other you can find out more about how schools can involve families and communities in their work.
Education is central in promoting every child’s development. It is a Millennium Development Goal to achieve universal primary education, because it is recognised that education broadens opportunities and choices for young people and helps to fight poverty. As one third of the out-of-school children are disabled – it will be impossible to meet this goal without deaf children getting into school. IDCS believes that this will be impossible without family and community involvement.
Research by academics like Desforges in the UK have shown that the support children receive from their family makes a big difference to their success at school. The case studies in this newsletter highlight the role that families play globally. Over 90% of deaf children are born into families who are not deaf and who may have little understanding of how they can support their child. That’s why it’s important for schools and families to work together. Read on for some brilliant examples of how this can work in practice!
For example, you can read a case study from Burkina Faso showing how schools can help families learn the skills they need to support their children more effectively. In addition, parental involvement can really benefit the school by using parents’ unique knowledge, skills and motivation – both in the classroom like in the example from Afghanistan, and at school management and policy level like the project for families in Kazakhstan.
As so many deaf children are out of school, it’s essential that schools consider how they can reach those parents in the community whose children are not in school. Again, with the right support, other parents whose deaf children have been to school can be the best people to reach out, like the inspiring parent trainers in Zimbabwe.
Later this year, IDCS will publish Family Friendly! a book of case studies and practical tips about involving families and communities in work with deaf children. Some of the case studies in this newsletter are also featured in the book – so look out for our email publicising the book later in the year! Some existing resources to help you think about how you can improve the way you work with families and communities are featured below.
Teachers training parents in Burkina Faso
In order for deaf children to do well at school, it really helps if families are actively involved in their education, and are able to communicate, play or help their children with homework. However it’s not always easy for parents to know what to do.
After asking parents what they needed, IDCS’s partner CEFISE, a mainstream school where lots of deaf children study, trained a group of teachers to carry out workshops for parents at three other schools for the deaf. During these workshops, teachers provide parents with information about deafness and lots of creative ideas to make learning fun. Using creative techniques proved to be a great way to provide parents with practical skills and motivation to spend more time with their child!
Follow the link to find out more about this Burkina Faso project, as well as great examples of games and activities.
Parents outreaching to other parents in Zimbabwe
Nyadire Primary School is located in a rural area of Zimbabwe where there is little awareness of deafness. With support from IDCS and the NZEVE centre for deaf children, Nyadire School trained two parents to be outreach workers.
Being visited at home was a great way for parents of out-of-school deaf children to find out more about deafness and their children’s potential. The parent trainers encouraged parents to send their deaf child to school and provided them with information about how they could support learning in the home. The families felt comfortable discussing personal issues with someone who had faced similar challenges and the parent trainers became a real community resource. The school also organised workshops to provide parents with more information and training to help them communicate with their deaf child.
Follow the link to find out more about this innovative approach to working with parents
Establishing a parents’ group in Somaliland
In Somaliland there are only two schools for the deaf. The Hargeisa School for the Deaf is working with parents to support them to advocate for the rights of their child. Getting parents together is also an effective and sustainable way of establishing support networks and a forum to share ideas and experiences.
The Hargeisa School found that, in order for parents to have an impact, it was important to set up a formal organisation. They provided a group of parents with the necessary skills to organise and register a parents’ group. This group now meets regularly and, together with the school and a group of young deaf people, has carried out advocacy and awareness raising activities.
Find out more about the process of setting up a parents group
Working together for children’s rights in Kazakhstan
Children living in institutions in Kazakhstan are often denied their rights. In addition, many find that communicating with their families is very difficult. With limited parental involvement, professionals have a lot of power over children’s lives. To create change in such a context meant that everyone needed to be involved – that’s why the project working to improve the lives of deaf children in institutions was called Rights for All.
Using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a tool, this project tried to involve teachers, children and parents. An important achievement was the establishment of an ongoing parents’ group which have quarterly meetings with school directors and are working with the Deaf People’s Association to lobby for policy changes. A resource room staffed by a parent volunteer also helps to provide parents with practical support when they visit the school.
Read more about how this project aimed to make Rights For All a reality…
A father’s story – getting involved in education in Afghanistan
Getting involved in their children’s education can radically change parents’ attitudes towards their child’s deafness. As they witness first-hand their child’s capacity for learning and educational success, they can become advocates for other children’s rights.
Abdul Ghani is the father of six children, four of whom are deaf. He worked for an inclusive education project run by the International Rescue Committee in Afghanistan which helped deaf children, previously denied access to education, to stay in school. His valuable contribution and change of attitude towards his deaf children’s potential shows how parent involvement benefits both schools and families!
Find out more about our work in Afghanistan.
Real inclusion requires a supportive family
In India, the Persons with Disabilities Act says that every disabled child should be able to study in a regular school if that is their choice. Snigdha talks about how she fought to make the act a reality for her deaf daughter, Sneha. This would not have been possible without the support she received in the early days from a family-focused organisation in West Bengal. Snigdha’s story shows why IDCS’s focus on parent-support is so important and gives practical tips for regular schools wishing to include deaf children.
Read Snigdha’s story to find out more about parenting a deaf child in India and why family support is so important.
Member spotlight
IDCS Network member the Loto Taumafai Society in Samoa worked with UNESCO to pilot the Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning Friendly Environments. The second chapter focuses on involving families and communities. It is a very useful tool for any school. However, IDCS thinks that as deaf children have less opportunity than other children to learn incidentally in their community, the ideas presented in this UNESCO publication are even more important for schools where deaf children learn!
You can read an extract and download the booklet
More resources
EENET, the Enabling Education Network is an international information sharing network which promotes the inclusion of marginalised groups in education. Membership is open to all.
The EENET website contains resources about working with parents including the Family Action for Inclusion book. This tells the stories of family-based advocacy organisations which have contributed to transform education systems in southern Africa, South Asia, Europe and Australia. It has been written for family and community members who may feel isolated and want to form a support group, advocacy organisation, or want to challenge exclusion. It will also be of relevant to those interested in promoting inclusive practices in education, such as teachers, teacher educators and policy makers.
Improving family communication
For our next issue of Learning from Each Other, we would like to focus on family communication. As the articles presented here have shown, communicating with a deaf child at home is extremely important for his or her emotional and educational development. We would be delighted to hear of your experiences of supporting families to improve their ability to communicate with their deaf child.
What challenges do you face in communicating with deaf children? Have you received support from an organisation or parents of deaf children? Are there any games or exercises that you have found particularly useful? Are you involving deaf adults in family communication exercises?
As always, please do not worry if you don’t have much experience of writing about your work, just get in touch with any contribution, long or short. We will do our best to include it in the newsletter or publish on our website to share with The IDCS Network.
Please send us your stories by 10 October 2007 by email, post or fax
The IDCS Network
15 Dufferin Street
London, EC1Y 8UR
United Kingdom
idcs@idcs.info
Fax + 44 (0)20 7251 5020
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