I asked the Deaf trainees at my work placements this: "what do you feel or think when you see 'Deaf'?"
This was the result:
Not fair
Unequal
Pity
Sad
Can't communicate
Mercy
Love
Community
Enjoyment
The negatives were by the girls and the positives were by the boys, one of which has a Deaf parents.
I wasn't so surprised at this, since the Filipinos' perspective on the Deaf is very low. Florita (OIC) told me that a lot of the Deaf go into work and leave because they get bored or they get kicked out because of their attitude. I strongly believe that they get bored because of the lack of communication. I also believe that they get kicked out possibly because they don't understand what they have to do. I may be wrong, but that's my perspective.
I asked why they felt like this, most of them said they felt like they were neglected by the hearing people, they were asked to do a lot of work while they do nothing, they feel like why can't they communicate 'normally' like the hearing people and they feel pity from them.
We, the volunteers, wrote the positive things of being Deaf, on the back of the whiteboard, such as language, culture, community, feeling proud and that we can do anything except hear.
They looked stunned at this and thought that they were wrong for writing the negatives things down. Joe explained that he had graduated from university, and that they can do the same. I explained that they can point or write things down for communication, and they have interpreters. We tried to make them realise that being Deaf isn't a bad thing and they should be proud. At the end of this session, they looked happier and I hope that they will feel this way forever.
Ciao!
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Appreciate all the small things... and a little more about the Filipinos! Oh and ants!!
Today marks the one month anniversary since I landed in the Philippines! So much has happened whilst I've been here, my stay here has made me realise how many things I take granted for, such as a functioning flush for the toilet or the variety of food we can cook at home! My trip in the Philippines has made me promised myself to appreciate all the small things more!
I'm ever so grateful for a washing machine at home, an over and grill, knives (believe it or not, they cut their foods with their forks or spoons), the typical 'British' weather, yes, I miss the cold fresh air at home! I roamed around in my host home's kitchen and fridge to see what kind of food they have- rice, vegetables and meats. At this moment, it really hit me how they can eat almost the same food everyday and not complain, whereas at home, I know I would probably complain. (However, there is one thing I don't get, if the Filipinos had a choice of rice or spaghetti- they will still pick rice over spaghetti! Maybe they just really love rice?!)
They are not rich, so obviously they have to live on a budget and spend their money on other valuables, whereas we can apply for a loan to have a better life, or apply for benefits so that we can have TVs, an upgraded phone and take aways- the 'normal' in the UK.
One of the other thing that I will appreciate in the UK is the Health and Safety Act, one of the UK volunteers went into a school asking for directions to his work placement. But there was a miscommunication, the teacher thought the volunteer was volunteering in this school and took him into a room with two deaf students and gave him a pen so that he can't teach.
This would never happen in the UK, as a child protection check would be needed, DBS check and a CV. But clearly, in the Philippines, all you need to do is to walk into a school and inform them that you're a volunteer and helping out the Deaf community- bam- there you have it.
I miss the buses at home! I will never complain about why someone has decided to sit next to me when there are other available spaces! The jeepneys here are unbelievable, the jeepney workers literally cram everyone on the jeepney, it's so irritating! I want to scream to them saying 'CANT YOU SEE THERE IS NO MORE SPACE FOR AN EXTRA PERSON?!' But I refrain myself from doing that, I haven't gone that mad yet........ Sometimes there's a man who works on the jeepney, at he back collecting money and getting people on the jeepney. They bang the jeepeny's side for it to stop and shout every word there is- which is unnecessary. They also try to encourage people to get on the jeepney. I also want to scream at them saying 'THEY WILL ASK YOU TO ATOP IF THEY WANT TO GET ON THE JEEPNEY, SO STOP BANGING AND SHOUTING!' But like I said, I try and stop myself from doing that. But I do give looks to hint that it's annoying. It slows down the transport!
The taxi drivers here slow down when they approach you, assuming that you need a ride. I don't understand this, because if I want a ride, I will signal for you, you do not come to me.
This is why I miss the UK, the buses stop when you signal for it to. The taxis come if you ting for them or signal for it.
Being white in the Philippines really gets me sometimes, the Filipinos will stare at you if you're white. I've had many staring contest with the Filipinos (I always win, by the way!) lol! I attended to the closing of International Week of the Deaf, and so many Filipinos wanted to take a photo with me, it got to the point where I got so annoyed, but I couldn't be rude and say no even if I wanted to! They get so excited seeing a white person.
Sometimes the Filipinos do give you a dirty look, I feel as if I'm experiencing racism in the Philippines! But I try not to get bothered by it.
I have noticed from the Filipinos volunteers that they love to tell their story in details! No offence to them, but I don't actually need to want to hear everything. Let's put it this way so you really get what I mean, they will tell you who was sitting where and what directions they walked in from a certain place to another. Need I say more?
I detest ants so badly that I want them all dead, literally. I've had so many bad encounters with these tiny unnecessary creature- oh, one had just crawled over my iPad -.- anyways, my host home has three trails of ants army in the dining room/kitchen. It is disgusting. I killed two trails before and they stopped coming in that way and found another way of getting in, there are three trials now, mainly on the wall. I found ants in a bowl of foods. I found ants in my work placement's bathroom carrying a big fish bone- I'm not lying- I have evidence of this. I drank coke with ants in it when I was 12. I had my backpack invaded by ants in the summer, in Venice. Gahhh!!
I hope you've enjoyed this blog! :)
Bye for now! See you next Sunday!
I'm ever so grateful for a washing machine at home, an over and grill, knives (believe it or not, they cut their foods with their forks or spoons), the typical 'British' weather, yes, I miss the cold fresh air at home! I roamed around in my host home's kitchen and fridge to see what kind of food they have- rice, vegetables and meats. At this moment, it really hit me how they can eat almost the same food everyday and not complain, whereas at home, I know I would probably complain. (However, there is one thing I don't get, if the Filipinos had a choice of rice or spaghetti- they will still pick rice over spaghetti! Maybe they just really love rice?!)
They are not rich, so obviously they have to live on a budget and spend their money on other valuables, whereas we can apply for a loan to have a better life, or apply for benefits so that we can have TVs, an upgraded phone and take aways- the 'normal' in the UK.
One of the other thing that I will appreciate in the UK is the Health and Safety Act, one of the UK volunteers went into a school asking for directions to his work placement. But there was a miscommunication, the teacher thought the volunteer was volunteering in this school and took him into a room with two deaf students and gave him a pen so that he can't teach.
This would never happen in the UK, as a child protection check would be needed, DBS check and a CV. But clearly, in the Philippines, all you need to do is to walk into a school and inform them that you're a volunteer and helping out the Deaf community- bam- there you have it.
I miss the buses at home! I will never complain about why someone has decided to sit next to me when there are other available spaces! The jeepneys here are unbelievable, the jeepney workers literally cram everyone on the jeepney, it's so irritating! I want to scream to them saying 'CANT YOU SEE THERE IS NO MORE SPACE FOR AN EXTRA PERSON?!' But I refrain myself from doing that, I haven't gone that mad yet........ Sometimes there's a man who works on the jeepney, at he back collecting money and getting people on the jeepney. They bang the jeepeny's side for it to stop and shout every word there is- which is unnecessary. They also try to encourage people to get on the jeepney. I also want to scream at them saying 'THEY WILL ASK YOU TO ATOP IF THEY WANT TO GET ON THE JEEPNEY, SO STOP BANGING AND SHOUTING!' But like I said, I try and stop myself from doing that. But I do give looks to hint that it's annoying. It slows down the transport!
The taxi drivers here slow down when they approach you, assuming that you need a ride. I don't understand this, because if I want a ride, I will signal for you, you do not come to me.
This is why I miss the UK, the buses stop when you signal for it to. The taxis come if you ting for them or signal for it.
Being white in the Philippines really gets me sometimes, the Filipinos will stare at you if you're white. I've had many staring contest with the Filipinos (I always win, by the way!) lol! I attended to the closing of International Week of the Deaf, and so many Filipinos wanted to take a photo with me, it got to the point where I got so annoyed, but I couldn't be rude and say no even if I wanted to! They get so excited seeing a white person.
Sometimes the Filipinos do give you a dirty look, I feel as if I'm experiencing racism in the Philippines! But I try not to get bothered by it.
I have noticed from the Filipinos volunteers that they love to tell their story in details! No offence to them, but I don't actually need to want to hear everything. Let's put it this way so you really get what I mean, they will tell you who was sitting where and what directions they walked in from a certain place to another. Need I say more?
I detest ants so badly that I want them all dead, literally. I've had so many bad encounters with these tiny unnecessary creature- oh, one had just crawled over my iPad -.- anyways, my host home has three trails of ants army in the dining room/kitchen. It is disgusting. I killed two trails before and they stopped coming in that way and found another way of getting in, there are three trials now, mainly on the wall. I found ants in a bowl of foods. I found ants in my work placement's bathroom carrying a big fish bone- I'm not lying- I have evidence of this. I drank coke with ants in it when I was 12. I had my backpack invaded by ants in the summer, in Venice. Gahhh!!
I hope you've enjoyed this blog! :)
Bye for now! See you next Sunday!
Monday, 29 September 2014
The Committees..
During our trip here, we will have different type of events throughout. The events need committees, so we picked which events we wanted to be a committee for.
There are -
The social committees who will arrange social events through out the trip, and it has a budget, which we don't know of yet. The committees are Charlotte, Emilie and Jennylyn.
Mid Phase Review committees, this is where we review what has been happening and how we can improve the negatives for the rest of the programme. This will take place on the 16th of October and 17th of October. The committees are Gemma, Chelsea and Kimberly. The budget for this is 20,000 Pesos.
Debrief committees, this will happen in the end, when we review everything and debrief the programme. The committees are Joe, Miguel and Rhosette. The budget for this is 35,000 Pesos.
The farewell party committee will arrange a farewell party to say goodbye to everyone etc. The committees are Maryan, Pippa and Deane. We don't know the budget for this either.
Community Action Day and Active Citizen Day have a budget of 4,000 Pesos, as we do not need to travel out of Cebu for this. The committees are - ACD- Leanne, Jorelei and I. CAD- Phoebe and Lucilo.
We have communication committees who publish our work and makes sure everything runs smoothly etc.
A week into work!
As I promised in my last blog, this will be very brief! On the first day at my work, I had a tour around the centre and was told information about the centre, which you can read in my last blog- which is very long! Apologies to those who ought it was boring!
Anyways! We work from Tuesday to Friday as on Mondays we have our team meetings!
Tuesday 23rd September- I arrived late because I have to get two jeepneys to work and they take FOOOOREVEEERRRR! Florita asked us to write a 'bio data' which is like a CV for her, so she could put opus into certain workshops and to give us schedule. But she wanted us to have our picture taken first for the bio data (I have no idea why). So we had our picture taken, in which I look terrible! And waited for Florita to give us some kind of form to fill in. Because I thought there were such things as bio data forms, I don't know how I got this idea. But anyways, as we waited for AGES! From about 10am to 12pm, we waited we then had our lunch at 12pm. At 1pm, I asked Florita, if she was going to give us something to write on- miscommunication alert- "where's your bio data? Write your bio data" Florita said back to me, not answering my question. I then realised she wasn't going to give USA nothing to write on. She expected us to just write on some paper. I went back to the room and informed the others of this and we wrote our bio data down.
We gave our "CVs" to her and waited until about 5pm. She then gave us this paper thingy where we check in and out of work, like the old times. I got very excited about this, lame I know, but I don't care. I checked out at 5.04pm.
Wednesday 24th September- I arrived at 09.14am, late again, but like I said earlier, it takes forever to my work placement, and I did try waking up early, but I hate waking up too early..... :-D Florita took us to the conference room and placed us in certain work stations.
Jennylyn-
Commercial Cooking
Dress and Apparel
Miguel-
Housekeeping
Basic Cosmetology
Joe-
Computer Technology
Consumer Electronics
Furniture and Cabinet Making
Me-
Office work, yes, office work. I got this because of my 'experience and education'. I'm not going to lie, at first, I was a bit gutted with this, but then got a wee bit excited at the idea of working with psychologist and social workers etc.
So I started straightaway into the office with no work to do. I asked around for work and there easy nothing for me to do. The lady in the same office as me, gave me two books about AVRC and said to me 'read this so you can know more about the centre'. I politely took the book and proceeded to read, but knew it all due to last Friday's pre-orientation about the centre. But I found this interesting information-
"In the Philippines- the National Statistics Office reported that 1.23% of the 76.5 million Filipinos are categorised as persons with disability (PWDs) or these persons with physical, mental, sensory and other form of impairment."
I got frustrated at doing nothing and told the lady that I already know about the centre and if there was anything else I can do. She looked like she felt a bit bad, and said 'oh yes, can you please help me by gluing the envelope so I can post the invitations?'
This wasn't anything of me working with the Deaf or helping the Deaf community, but it was better than doing nothing. So I spent my morning and a bit after lunch gluing. The lady told me that there will be a lady who is going to give me work. But this didn't happen.
I got annoyed and joined Joe who had to print 120 leaflets for the 40th year anniversary of AVRC - Foundation Day. I wandered around most of the day and went home at 04.05pm.
Thursday 25th September- I'll summarise my morning- I basically did nothing. After lunch, I taught the Deaf trainees some multiplications and divisions, we played some games as well. I really enjoyed this session and it lasted from 1pm-4pm. I found this task a bit challenging as there were different levels of knowledge of the subject.
One of the girls asked if I wanted my nails done, and I felt bad if I said no, so I let her to do what she was good at.
We spent the last half hour talking about my family being a Deaf. The trainees were so shocked and wanted some kind of answer to why we are Deaf. I tried to explain that we were just born Deaf. They replied with some sort of 'was it because you were sick? Maybe your mum took a wrong medication? Were you born in a hospital? Maybe the doctor did something to you?'
I then found out that every single Filipinos became deaf because one of the following reasons- sickness, the mother took some wrong medication, wasn't born in a hospital or the doctor did something wrong to them.
I was amazed at this and remembered that something very similar happened in the UK, a long time ago, before it wasn't a shame to be Deaf. I felt like telling them that it may all be lies and they were actually just born Deaf.
One girl asked 'how come your parents only had girls? Not boys?' I didn't know how to answer this!! Haha!
I checked out at 04.09pm.
Friday 26th September- I arrived at 09.32am, because my schedule has changed from 9am-5pm to 10am-4pm because the journey was far too long. I was assigned to write an excel form of the delivery that came in the morning. I was slightly pissed at this because once again, it has nothing to do with my coming to the Philippines. But I did it anyways because there were nothing else to do! I was then told to scan some letters and email it.
My next task was to write the name of the folders in the filing cabinets. I got up to fifty and lost it, I wrote to Flortia complaint about how I have been here over a week and hasn't been given a schedule other than to teach the staff Filipino sign Language on Tuesdays from 4pm-5pm and to teach work ethics to the Deaf trainees on Thursdays from 1pm-4pm. I also told her that I came here to help the Deaf community and the work she has given me was not relevant at all.
She told me to wait and go to cosmetology, where I had a facial from one of the trainees. I felt really guilty because I didn't come here to get treatments, I came to help! (I was asked to be given the facial by the way).
I got sick of observing, getting treatments and doing nothing so I went home at 03.23pm.
Bye! :)
Anyways! We work from Tuesday to Friday as on Mondays we have our team meetings!
Tuesday 23rd September- I arrived late because I have to get two jeepneys to work and they take FOOOOREVEEERRRR! Florita asked us to write a 'bio data' which is like a CV for her, so she could put opus into certain workshops and to give us schedule. But she wanted us to have our picture taken first for the bio data (I have no idea why). So we had our picture taken, in which I look terrible! And waited for Florita to give us some kind of form to fill in. Because I thought there were such things as bio data forms, I don't know how I got this idea. But anyways, as we waited for AGES! From about 10am to 12pm, we waited we then had our lunch at 12pm. At 1pm, I asked Florita, if she was going to give us something to write on- miscommunication alert- "where's your bio data? Write your bio data" Florita said back to me, not answering my question. I then realised she wasn't going to give USA nothing to write on. She expected us to just write on some paper. I went back to the room and informed the others of this and we wrote our bio data down.
We gave our "CVs" to her and waited until about 5pm. She then gave us this paper thingy where we check in and out of work, like the old times. I got very excited about this, lame I know, but I don't care. I checked out at 5.04pm.
Wednesday 24th September- I arrived at 09.14am, late again, but like I said earlier, it takes forever to my work placement, and I did try waking up early, but I hate waking up too early..... :-D Florita took us to the conference room and placed us in certain work stations.
Jennylyn-
Commercial Cooking
Dress and Apparel
Miguel-
Housekeeping
Basic Cosmetology
Joe-
Computer Technology
Consumer Electronics
Furniture and Cabinet Making
Me-
Office work, yes, office work. I got this because of my 'experience and education'. I'm not going to lie, at first, I was a bit gutted with this, but then got a wee bit excited at the idea of working with psychologist and social workers etc.
So I started straightaway into the office with no work to do. I asked around for work and there easy nothing for me to do. The lady in the same office as me, gave me two books about AVRC and said to me 'read this so you can know more about the centre'. I politely took the book and proceeded to read, but knew it all due to last Friday's pre-orientation about the centre. But I found this interesting information-
"In the Philippines- the National Statistics Office reported that 1.23% of the 76.5 million Filipinos are categorised as persons with disability (PWDs) or these persons with physical, mental, sensory and other form of impairment."
I got frustrated at doing nothing and told the lady that I already know about the centre and if there was anything else I can do. She looked like she felt a bit bad, and said 'oh yes, can you please help me by gluing the envelope so I can post the invitations?'
This wasn't anything of me working with the Deaf or helping the Deaf community, but it was better than doing nothing. So I spent my morning and a bit after lunch gluing. The lady told me that there will be a lady who is going to give me work. But this didn't happen.
I got annoyed and joined Joe who had to print 120 leaflets for the 40th year anniversary of AVRC - Foundation Day. I wandered around most of the day and went home at 04.05pm.
Thursday 25th September- I'll summarise my morning- I basically did nothing. After lunch, I taught the Deaf trainees some multiplications and divisions, we played some games as well. I really enjoyed this session and it lasted from 1pm-4pm. I found this task a bit challenging as there were different levels of knowledge of the subject.
One of the girls asked if I wanted my nails done, and I felt bad if I said no, so I let her to do what she was good at.
We spent the last half hour talking about my family being a Deaf. The trainees were so shocked and wanted some kind of answer to why we are Deaf. I tried to explain that we were just born Deaf. They replied with some sort of 'was it because you were sick? Maybe your mum took a wrong medication? Were you born in a hospital? Maybe the doctor did something to you?'
I then found out that every single Filipinos became deaf because one of the following reasons- sickness, the mother took some wrong medication, wasn't born in a hospital or the doctor did something wrong to them.
I was amazed at this and remembered that something very similar happened in the UK, a long time ago, before it wasn't a shame to be Deaf. I felt like telling them that it may all be lies and they were actually just born Deaf.
One girl asked 'how come your parents only had girls? Not boys?' I didn't know how to answer this!! Haha!
I checked out at 04.09pm.
Friday 26th September- I arrived at 09.32am, because my schedule has changed from 9am-5pm to 10am-4pm because the journey was far too long. I was assigned to write an excel form of the delivery that came in the morning. I was slightly pissed at this because once again, it has nothing to do with my coming to the Philippines. But I did it anyways because there were nothing else to do! I was then told to scan some letters and email it.
My next task was to write the name of the folders in the filing cabinets. I got up to fifty and lost it, I wrote to Flortia complaint about how I have been here over a week and hasn't been given a schedule other than to teach the staff Filipino sign Language on Tuesdays from 4pm-5pm and to teach work ethics to the Deaf trainees on Thursdays from 1pm-4pm. I also told her that I came here to help the Deaf community and the work she has given me was not relevant at all.
She told me to wait and go to cosmetology, where I had a facial from one of the trainees. I felt really guilty because I didn't come here to get treatments, I came to help! (I was asked to be given the facial by the way).
I got sick of observing, getting treatments and doing nothing so I went home at 03.23pm.
Bye! :)
Area Vocational Rehabilitation Centre- AVRC.
AVRC is where I will be working at for the rest of the nine weeks I have left. This centre is the same or very similar to apprenticeship in the UK. "Vocational Training Center for Persons with Disabilities serving Regions I,II, III and CAR of the Republic of the Philippines" (from their FB) so basically the trainees here train a specific course and they have allowance during that period of time. When they are trained, they then go out and find a job with help from the centre also.
On the 19th of September, we had a like a wee tour and pre-orientation of AVRC. Our Officer In Charge (OIC) is called Florita, and her signing is poor- she signs like a word, speak twenty words, a sign, twenty words and so in (I think you get the message.)
Anyways, she did a presentation and I wrote it all down. I'm going to type it up here and hopefully it will not bore you!
AVRC is under DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development): their main goal is to provide vocational skills for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
The background-
After the Republic Act of 2615 of 1959, AVRC was established in 1974 in Brgy. Labangon, Cebu City. The centre was expected to serve an estimated 1.7 million multi-disability group of clientele in the entire Visayas Region. There are Regions of V1, V11, V111 and V1111.
AVRC 1- Northern and Central Luzon, Dagupan City.
AVRC 11- Brgy. Labangon, Ceby City (where I'm working at)
AVRC 111- Zamboanga City in Mindanao.
NVRC 1111 (National Vocational Rehabilitation Centre)- Quezon City (pilot centre) for Metro Manila and Southern Luzon.
The objectives-
-Maximise residual capacities of PWDs through assessment and guidance, social adjustment, vocational training and placement services.
The DSWD support the trainings.
-Maximum functioning of the person's psychological, vocational and spiritual capacities and encourage integration into the community.
-Serve as a training facility for the students of social work, Physical/Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Information Technology, education and other allied Professional.
-One-storey concrete building on a two hectare lot donated by the Cebu City Government.
-Training tools and equipment provided by DSWD and international organisations (SEATO and ICO-UWPD), civic organisations (Rotary Clubs, friends of Jane Lim-Chua, etc) and business (Timex Phils).
-Physical Occupational Therapy Units were established in Coordination with Cebu Doctors/ Uni a Department of Rehabilitation Sciences to serve indigent survivors of stroke, polio and other orthopedical and neurological conditions.
-Prosethesis workshop established in coordination with Handicapped International to provide prosthetics affordable to low income families.
-Computer Laboratory also established through the assistance of local Rotary Clubs of Cebu-West and International (Engineers without Borders) organisations to provide access to information Technology to PWDs.
AVRC Goals-
-Provision and promotion of vocational rehabilitation services as legal right of PWDs.
-Development of human resources through a comprehensive vocational rehabilitation programme which will enable them to acquire practical skills for eventual employment.
A"VRC needs us, the volunteers, for the development of attitude and behaviour for the Deaf. It's very important to have good attitude and behaviour."
-Attainment of social and economic competence that will make PWDs productive members of the community.
AVRC does not just accept the enrolment of persons with disabilities, but also
-Recovered Drug Dependable and Alcoholics.
-Negative Hansenites.
-Released Prisoners (I KNOW! However, there aren't any in the centre, the same goes for the first one).
-Arrested PTB cases.
-Dependents/Immediate family members of PWDs.
Other client categories-
-Women in Especially Difficult Circumstances (WEDC)
-Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances (CEDC)
-Victims of Trafficking (VOT)
-Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL)
The Eligibility Requirements-
-Working age - 16-59
- has substantial job handicap in the form of physical/social impairment.
-willing to undergo vocational training.
-has good chance of becoming employed.
Documents for Admission-
-social case study report by local social worker.
-chest x-Ray result (with film).
-medical certificate.
-whole body picture.
Major Services-
-Medical/Dental Services-
•Determines clients' physical fitness for the training program.
•Maintains clients' health and promote physical well being.
•Determines possibilities for physical restoration.
-Psychological/Vocational Guidance Services-
•Assess clients' capabilities, interests, attitudes and skills as well as selection of suitable vocational goals.
•Enhance personality and promote values through Structured Learning Activities and group dynamics. - interpersonal relationship.
-Social Adjustment Services-
•Assist the clients to come up with own assessment of their problems of situation.
•Facilitate formulation of rehabilitation goals that would enable clients to reach optimum adjustment to their disability and integration to their families and communities.
-Vocational Training Services-
•Assist clients develop positive work habits and attitudes.
•Facilitates acquisition of knowledge and skills in occupation and activities that would lead to economic productivity.
-Vocational Placement Services-
•Assists trained clients find the right job to their skills, abilities and capacities for gainful employment.
•Provides employment counselling towards selective placement and occupational adjustment.
There are sixty students altogether in the centre, nineteen of the clients are Deaf. Fifteen courses are set in the centre but only eight are in use.
I really hope I didn't bore you with this long blog?! The next blog will be about my week in work, which will be brief! You'll find out why!
Au Reviour!
On the 19th of September, we had a like a wee tour and pre-orientation of AVRC. Our Officer In Charge (OIC) is called Florita, and her signing is poor- she signs like a word, speak twenty words, a sign, twenty words and so in (I think you get the message.)
Anyways, she did a presentation and I wrote it all down. I'm going to type it up here and hopefully it will not bore you!
AVRC is under DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development): their main goal is to provide vocational skills for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
The background-
After the Republic Act of 2615 of 1959, AVRC was established in 1974 in Brgy. Labangon, Cebu City. The centre was expected to serve an estimated 1.7 million multi-disability group of clientele in the entire Visayas Region. There are Regions of V1, V11, V111 and V1111.
AVRC 1- Northern and Central Luzon, Dagupan City.
AVRC 11- Brgy. Labangon, Ceby City (where I'm working at)
AVRC 111- Zamboanga City in Mindanao.
NVRC 1111 (National Vocational Rehabilitation Centre)- Quezon City (pilot centre) for Metro Manila and Southern Luzon.
The objectives-
-Maximise residual capacities of PWDs through assessment and guidance, social adjustment, vocational training and placement services.
The DSWD support the trainings.
-Maximum functioning of the person's psychological, vocational and spiritual capacities and encourage integration into the community.
-Serve as a training facility for the students of social work, Physical/Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Information Technology, education and other allied Professional.
-One-storey concrete building on a two hectare lot donated by the Cebu City Government.
-Training tools and equipment provided by DSWD and international organisations (SEATO and ICO-UWPD), civic organisations (Rotary Clubs, friends of Jane Lim-Chua, etc) and business (Timex Phils).
-Physical Occupational Therapy Units were established in Coordination with Cebu Doctors/ Uni a Department of Rehabilitation Sciences to serve indigent survivors of stroke, polio and other orthopedical and neurological conditions.
-Prosethesis workshop established in coordination with Handicapped International to provide prosthetics affordable to low income families.
-Computer Laboratory also established through the assistance of local Rotary Clubs of Cebu-West and International (Engineers without Borders) organisations to provide access to information Technology to PWDs.
AVRC Goals-
-Provision and promotion of vocational rehabilitation services as legal right of PWDs.
-Development of human resources through a comprehensive vocational rehabilitation programme which will enable them to acquire practical skills for eventual employment.
A"VRC needs us, the volunteers, for the development of attitude and behaviour for the Deaf. It's very important to have good attitude and behaviour."
-Attainment of social and economic competence that will make PWDs productive members of the community.
AVRC does not just accept the enrolment of persons with disabilities, but also
-Recovered Drug Dependable and Alcoholics.
-Negative Hansenites.
-Released Prisoners (I KNOW! However, there aren't any in the centre, the same goes for the first one).
-Arrested PTB cases.
-Dependents/Immediate family members of PWDs.
Other client categories-
-Women in Especially Difficult Circumstances (WEDC)
-Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances (CEDC)
-Victims of Trafficking (VOT)
-Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL)
The Eligibility Requirements-
-Working age - 16-59
- has substantial job handicap in the form of physical/social impairment.
-willing to undergo vocational training.
-has good chance of becoming employed.
Documents for Admission-
-social case study report by local social worker.
-chest x-Ray result (with film).
-medical certificate.
-whole body picture.
Major Services-
-Medical/Dental Services-
•Determines clients' physical fitness for the training program.
•Maintains clients' health and promote physical well being.
•Determines possibilities for physical restoration.
-Psychological/Vocational Guidance Services-
•Assess clients' capabilities, interests, attitudes and skills as well as selection of suitable vocational goals.
•Enhance personality and promote values through Structured Learning Activities and group dynamics. - interpersonal relationship.
-Social Adjustment Services-
•Assist the clients to come up with own assessment of their problems of situation.
•Facilitate formulation of rehabilitation goals that would enable clients to reach optimum adjustment to their disability and integration to their families and communities.
-Vocational Training Services-
•Assist clients develop positive work habits and attitudes.
•Facilitates acquisition of knowledge and skills in occupation and activities that would lead to economic productivity.
-Vocational Placement Services-
•Assists trained clients find the right job to their skills, abilities and capacities for gainful employment.
•Provides employment counselling towards selective placement and occupational adjustment.
There are sixty students altogether in the centre, nineteen of the clients are Deaf. Fifteen courses are set in the centre but only eight are in use.
I really hope I didn't bore you with this long blog?! The next blog will be about my week in work, which will be brief! You'll find out why!
Au Reviour!
Sunday, 28 September 2014
PRO7 and the IPAD Project
We all went to Regional 7 police station in Cebu to find out about whether the police officers are aware of how to communicate with the Deaf. The GVSP and PRO7 work together providing the accessibilities the Deaf need, such as interpreters and a number to text instead of calling in case of an emergency.
They are currently working on a project called 'IPAD' - Information and Police Access for the Deaf.
Here's an extract from - http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2013/11/16/1257320/pro-7-set-pilot-test-pwd-friendly-program?&wgzt=yes
They are currently working on a project called 'IPAD' - Information and Police Access for the Deaf.
Here's an extract from - http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2013/11/16/1257320/pro-7-set-pilot-test-pwd-friendly-program?&wgzt=yes
"CEBU, Philippines - The Police Regional Office-7 and the Gualandi Volunteer Service Programme Philippines have signed a memorandum of agreement to pilot test a program for the benefit of Persons with Disabilities, particularly the deaf.
The MOA created the Information and Police Access for the Deaf (IPAD) program that aims to improve the investigation, monitoring and documentation of cases involving deaf victims. The IPAD will be under the Philippine National Police’s Women and Children’s Desk and will be piloted at Cebu City Police Station 6 in Barangay Pasil, Cebu City.
“WCPD of the PS6 will be the first to be trained how to handle deaf victims as it is the center station in the entire Cebu City,” said PRO-7 public information officer Supt. Renato Dugan.
Police officers will be trained by the GVSP on basic Filipino Sign Language and deaf culture sensitivity, courtesy to PWDs, and working with sign language interpre-ters to allow smooth communication between the deaf and hearing individuals.
Police will also network and coordinate with other agencies to conduct effective investigation and referrals when necessary.
The initiative is part of the GVSP’s Break the Silence Project which raises awareness on the rights of the deaf. The project is supported by the Australian Government through the Philippines-Australian Community Assistance Program.
PACAP provides small grants assistance to poor communities throughout the Philippines. Since it started in 1986, PACAP has awarded more than 2,200 grants to 1,320 civil society organizations benefitting more than 1.4 million poor Filipinos.
The Break the Silence Project aims to assist local government partners to deal more effectively with sexual abuse cases involving deaf persons.
It will also develop a national framework focused on the prevention of Deaf Child Sex Abuse and provide emergency support to abuse victims by providing access to deaf para-counsellors and court interpreters.
“Anyone nga deaf unya i-abuse sila regardless of age and sex pwede i-accommodate,” Dugan said. –BRP (FREEMAN)"
(I don't know what happened in the last line- it's in the article too!)
This programme started in 2012 and it's still going on. The programme's aim is give the Deaf access to information and the police. It also involves teaching Filipino Sign Language to the police officers. This session turned into a very heated debate between mainly the UK volunteers and one of the police officers, I'll call her Brenda (can't remember her actual name). She also had some help from another woman, not sure if she's a police officer also.
The GVSP provide interpreters (volunteers and 'qualified' in their eyes) to PRO7 two hours per day, incase of any Deaf persons walking in. I asked what would happen if a Deaf person walked in and there was no interpreter there? Brenda's response was 'we ask them to wait until the interpreter arrives'. This made me very angry as this meant that Deaf people are not getting the same treatment as hearing people. I questioned Brenda again 'what if a Deaf person walked in, and is in a very emotional state? S/he is expected to wait until an interpreter arrives?! Does any of the police officer here knows any basic sign language, such as 'how can I help you? Are you okay?' Why should a Deaf person wait longer than anyone else, just because you don't have an interpreter 24/7?"
A lot of the UK volunteers questioned Brenda, and she sometimes tries to get away from the question and answers it differently. We then asked if she thinks a Deaf person can become a police officer, she said 'yes' but by law, a Deaf person can not become a police officer because s/he is 'physically unfit'.
Someone told Brenda that there are some Deaf police officers in the UK, patrolling the streets or working inside the office. She seemed a bit shocked about it and asked us to speak to the government about it and make them realise that Deaf people can do anything.
Brenda seemed positive about the Deaf community but there was something lies behind her, she doesn't seem very passionate. She did say that she can't fight for the Deaf community to the government as she can't be political and is a police officer herself, enforcing the laws.
The main reason why we, the UK volunteers, were very, erm, a bit angry was because we know the rights for the Deaf, we know the equality we have and how badly the equality lacks in the Philippines.
Jennylyn told Brenda that she went to her local police station to inform them that someone stabbed her father, and the police officers laughed at her and told her to fetch her mother because she is Deaf and can not communicate with the police officers. 'Where's my justice?' She asked Brenda. Brenda asked where she lives etc. but I don't think she can do anything about it. But she never said anything else afterwards.
We all recommended to Brenda to have Deaf people working in the IPAD project, because the Deaf knows what they want and what needs to be done. Brenda informed us that's she will take the information in and do something about it, hopefully! She also said she would be more than happy to take any information we collect during our trip and any evidence/facts about the disability law in the UK.
'Its not a discrimination if a mall denies a blind man's entry if he has a guide dog with him'. This has actually happened in Cebu, Brenda and her colleague genuinely believes that it isn't a discrimination. Because it is the mall's rule.
I asked Brenda 'what's the law in the Philippines on disabled people?' She answered 'they are treated equally.' (Somewhere along those lines) I then told her that the blind man isn't being treated equally if he is denied an entrance to the mall. I also asked why didn't the police do something about it. She said no one reported it.
I replied to Brenda with this-
"But you know about it, so why haven't you done anything about it? If you have the law about treating the disabled people equal, and haven't done any action about this incident, you are breaking the rules yourself."
Byeeee! :)
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Gualandi Mission for the Deaf...
A little bit more about 'Gualandi' - The Congregation Piccola Missione per i Sordomuti (Little Mission for the Deaf) was founded in Bologna, Italy by Fr. Giuseppe Gualandi in 1872 and is presently working in Italy, Brazil, and the Philippines for the education and evangelization of the Deaf. The Religious Community of the Mission in the Philippines is popularly known as the Gualandi Mission for the Deaf.
During our 'meeting' with Aileen, someone asked if the audiology here is free. She said it is not free in the hospitals, as an audiology test is not required when you are born as it is not in the law. If parents requested to have the hearing test done on the baby, it is very expensive.
There was a child who was not recognised as Deaf until she was five years old, and she was recognised by her mother.
However. Gualandi Mission for the Deaf (GMD??) provide free hearing tests, but unfortunately some deaf people or families does not know about this and a lot of them doesn't know http at there is a Deaf community.
When parents are made aware that their child is deaf, most of the time, they are ashamed and make excuses that the child is sleeping or the noise wasn't loud enough for the child to hear. What's even more heartbreakingly is that sometimes Deaf parents does this. In the Philippines, it's very hard to accept your child's Deafness.
GMD are trying to make deaf parents and children aware of this organisations, so they can gain free hearing aids and audiology test. Aileen is only aware of one centre which provides free audiology tests and hearing aids. However she knows that there is a centre in Manila, but it is not free.
My next blog will be about an heated debate in the police station!
Ciao! :)
During our 'meeting' with Aileen, someone asked if the audiology here is free. She said it is not free in the hospitals, as an audiology test is not required when you are born as it is not in the law. If parents requested to have the hearing test done on the baby, it is very expensive.
There was a child who was not recognised as Deaf until she was five years old, and she was recognised by her mother.
However. Gualandi Mission for the Deaf (GMD??) provide free hearing tests, but unfortunately some deaf people or families does not know about this and a lot of them doesn't know http at there is a Deaf community.
When parents are made aware that their child is deaf, most of the time, they are ashamed and make excuses that the child is sleeping or the noise wasn't loud enough for the child to hear. What's even more heartbreakingly is that sometimes Deaf parents does this. In the Philippines, it's very hard to accept your child's Deafness.
GMD are trying to make deaf parents and children aware of this organisations, so they can gain free hearing aids and audiology test. Aileen is only aware of one centre which provides free audiology tests and hearing aids. However she knows that there is a centre in Manila, but it is not free.
My next blog will be about an heated debate in the police station!
Ciao! :)
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