[PDFlist] Fwd: PDF Weekly Update - 27 August, 2018

[Soloveni Vitoso]

*Pacific Weekly Update – 27 August, 2018*

Bula PDF Members,

Welcome BACK to our weekly update. As per the PDF Strategic Plan and the
need for more information sharing on disability within the Pacific, I will
be sending this out every Monday by 5pm.

Our updates typically include news. Stories and updates from PDF member
organisations, news of interest to networks, notifications of new
publications and research, announcements regarding meetings and events, and
information on the latest job and training opportunities.

Please do not hesitate to send me updates from your DPOs or countries soon.

This week’s updates:


*FNU sponsors inaugural disability gala awards event *Nicolette Chambers
(FIJI TIMES) – 1 August, 2018

[image: Gala Award Night Chairperson Rajnel Prasad. Picture Supplied]Gala
Award Night Chairperson Rajnel Prasad. Picture Supplied.

THE Fiji National University (FNU) has confirmed its sponsorship for Fiji’s
first-ever Disability Gala Awards Nite organised by the United Blind
Persons of Fiji (UBP).

The Gala Awards Nite chairperson, Rajnel Prasad, said the UBP was grateful
to the FNU for showing its support, and being the first official sponsor
would boost the event.

FNU vice-chancellor Professor Nigel Healey said it was only fitting the
university worked with such organisations that assured each person had
access to quality tertiary education.

“Too often we are immersed in our own worlds. We have to become more
responsible and as Fiji’s national university, I believe that it is
important that we take the lead in such initiatives,” Prof Healey said.

The awards event will be held on October 27 at the Grand Pacific Hotel in
Suva.


*113,500 Fijians living with disabilities *LUKE NACEI (Fiji times) -23
August, 2018, 11:05 am

[image: Ms. Mereseini Vuniwaqa]MORE Fijians are living with disabilities
and are more likely to need help in their day-to-day living, says Minister
for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa.

While officiating at the launch of the National Minimum Standards for
Institution Homes on Care of Older Persons in Suva yesterday, Mrs. Vuniwaqa
said according to the national census in 2017, Fijians aged above 60
comprised 9 per cent of the total population (80,483 older Fijians), while
people living with disabilities made up 12.8 per cent of the total
population (113,595 Fijians).

She said the same census showed that 69 per cent of Fiji’s population were
below the age of 40 years which meant that Fiji’s population was currently
represented by a structural pyramid which would become an inverted pyramid
in a few decades in front of us.

Mrs. Vuniwaqa said the social and economic implications for the nation
would be vast if Fiji’s population becomes an inverted pyramid.

“The legal framework for our national commitment to the aged and people
living with disabilities is stated in the 2013 Constitution which provides
for a wide range of socioeconomic rights, these rights include the right to
education, access to health care, housing and sanitation, reasonable access
to transportation, food security and safe water, and social security
protection.”

Mrs. Vuniwaqa said Fijians were not only living longer but more people were
living with disabilities and were more likely to need some help in their
day-to-day living.

*Help for women with disability*

Friday August 24, 2018 Written by Published in Local
<http://cookislandsnews.com/national/local>

[image: National Coordinator for the Cook Islands National Disability
Council Destiny Tara (right) and Poko Rota with some of the colourful and
carefully handcrafted items the Cook Islands Women and Girls Disability
Organisation have for sale.]

National Coordinator for the Cook Islands National Disability Council
Destiny Tara (right) and Poko Rota with some of the colorful and carefully
handcrafted items the Cook Islands Women and Girls Disability Organisation
have for sale.



*A new coordinator is being sought to run the Cook Islands Women and Girls
Disability Organisation programme.*

 “Ideally they would be patient, compassionate and creative,” says National
Coordinator for the Cook Islands National Disability Council Destiny Tara.

Funding for the programme has come through the Social Impact Fund from the
Ministry of Internal Affairs for a further 12-month period and the job
would be approximately 25-30 hours a week.

The job is fundamentally about preparing women, both mentally and
emotionally, for employment.

“We can help them prepare their CVs and prepare for interviews, but it is
much more than that. They need the confidence to know that they have the
ability and that their disability does not need to hold them back,” says
Tara.

She uses the example of a deaf person. “They can still have the same skills
as a hearing person but they would approach their work in a slightly
different way.”

The programme is in two parts. The first is helping the women into paid
employment and the second is support in helping them create their own
income independently.

“There is a bit involved in that, including how to manage money, price
items for sale so that you can still make a profit, labelling, everything
they need so that they can be independent and set themselves up.”

Every week the women going through the programme at that time set their
stall up outside Are Pa Metua in Nikao, bursting with their handmade wares,
and Tara says to keep an eye out for them.

She says the programme is about giving them their wings and then watching
them go for it.

A member of the Cook Islands National Disability Council, it was started by
Mama Tuki Wright after she suffered a stroke.

Disability can simply mean an impairment, limitation or restriction to
everyday life, the things that others take for granted.

Wright says the biggest barrier to women with disabilities is social
attitudes and that women with disabilities want to be out their living
their lives, stretching their potential and doing what they strive to do.

Those interested in applying for the position can phone Destiny Tara on
20199.



*Inclusive Economic Growth Workshop for Tonga’s Disability Taskforce
Members*



[image: participants of the Inclusive Economic Growth for Tonga Disability
Taskforce Members]

Participating members of the workshop

*Tonga Skills for Inclusive Economic Growth in partnership with the
Ministry of Internal Affair’s Social Protection and Disability Department,
conducted a half a day workshop for Tonga’s Disability Taskforce members in
the 17 April, 2018 at Tungi Colonade, Nuku’alofa.*

The workshop was designed for the participants to understand the services
offered by Tonga Skills and how they can assist people with disabilities
access training and improve their income, so that they can help support
their families.

Tonga Skills Team Leader Dr. ‘Uhila – mo e – Langi – Fasi said they are
targeting three major groups such as people with disabilities, women and
people in remote areas.

“This is part of our work with people with disabilities. We are here today
to develop the knowledge and capacity of our stakeholders on how to find
ways to access funds, and improve their skills.”

Deputy CEO for the Ministry of Internal Affair Ms. Lu’isa Manuofetoa stated
that in order to improve the life of a disabled person they must first
build the capacities of the stakeholders.

“Tonga Skills helps us to train stakeholders and feed them with what is
needed to build their capacities, and form the best intervention with
disabilities. Not only that but we are looking at giving disabilities the
same opportunities that we have. To access training, to be able to earn
their own income and support their own families.”

Manuofetoa stressed that the government, service providers and NGOs should
be working together towards the development of disabilities in Tonga, by
giving them the same opportunities that normal people have.

There are 39 stakeholders in the Tonga Disability Taskforce. Tonga Skills
is a program funded by the Australian Government.

ENDS

*Issued by the *Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster
Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communication – Tonga



*Update from Palau*



[image: Image may contain: 13 people, including Villany Remengesau, people
smiling]Belau Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (BANGO) held a
Membership

Meeting with the Government of Palau on 21 August 2018 in MCCA Civic Hall.



This was the beginning of CSO partnership with the Government of Palau
towards the Sustainable Development Goals in ensuring that no one is left
behind.



BANGO was grateful to have Minister Baklai Temengil and Director Sher
Madraisau
<https://www.facebook.com/sher.madraisau?fref=mentions&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAgJFCOZwcluyjvP5Z1BxdJV9vEDBffADfHu-s9-AzB3fiJemSMsAeHrd9B3XWg55QwewXXtIEdL8SvsdjFAhIgWr0XUyUpOKFY1Vh4xeJvoiwlPIf1PqwnjSsm4lYkr0A9mzQpxI_-&__tn__=K-R>
and the support from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Community and
Cultural Affairs, and Office of the President in Palau.

Belau Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (BANGO) is an umbrella
platform and  coordinating mechanism for the CSOs, NGOs, and CBOs in Palau.



GO! Fly High!

Wheelchairs campaign in partnership with Hokkaido International Exchange
and Cooperation Center (HIECC); brought a study group of 8 students from
various high schools in Hokkaido and donation of 5 wheelchairs were
presented to OMEKESANG and Palau Parents Empowered at their resource office
in Meyuns, Koror State on August 20th, 2018 for persons and children with
disabilities.


* Training targets disabled*

SERAFINA SILAITOGA (fIJI TIMES) - 16 July, 2018, 10:45 am

[image: http://www.fijitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Pg-4b.jpg]

Members of the FNCDP from Taveuni and Tukavesi during the training. Picture
SUPPLIED



EMPOWERING associates of the disabled society, the Fiji National Council
for Disabled Persons conducted training sessions aimed at financially
supporting their members.

Executive officer Kaushilya Prasad said the purpose of the initiative was
to promote positive attitude for persons living with disabilities.

By using vocational training (TVET), she said, people with disabilities
would be part of the rehabilitation program within their community.

“We believe that these kinds of opportunities will support persons with
disabilities to be self-reliant as this will set a platform to use our
skills to make progress in life,” she said.

“This training is targeted at persons with disabilities in the selected
community and the one-week training included basic joinery works, tie and
dye, screen-printing, flower arrangement and event decorations.

“The trainees are divided into three different categories which included
three groups and they were youths and men with disabilities, women with
disabilities and mothers of persons with disabilities.

“We have a quarterly budget allocation from the Government for this
training.”

Ms. Prasad said the target of the first phase was to conduct three
trainings per quarter depending on the different settings and locations.

“The recent training is phase two whereby we give out a starter pack for
these groups to create their business,” she said.

“The portal tools belong to the council and it is not for any individual
use or borrowing. “The responsibility will be given to the district
committee to oversee the utilisation and safe keeping of equipment and
machines.”

The third phase, she added, was to monitor the progressive development of
persons with disabilities in building their skills and marketable
enterprises.

*She cannot hear the music. But this dancer and her students move to silent
rhythms*


[image: Kerry Thompson (right) instructed Elena Topoo in salsa moves during
a class at the Blackstone Community Center.]Kerry Thompson (right) instruct
Elena Topoo in salsa moves during a class at the Blackstone Community
Center - MATTHEW J. LEE/GLOBE STAFF

“You don’t tell a Southern mom you want to send her babies away,” Thompson
said. “My mom said no and that she would do whatever she could to make sure
we got a good education.”

Both Thompson and her kid brother were born with Usher Syndrome, a
condition that causes deafness and the slow deterioration of their
eyesight. Her mother still required everyone to learn sign language.
Thompson attended a class for deaf children before going to a regular
school.

“We were separated from the rest of the school. We were not allowed to have
recess together, we were not allowed to have lunchtime together,” Thompson
said. “We had to go through a special entrance to the school away from the
other kids.”

She never saw herself as very different. She simply perceived the world in
a different way. Even then, she danced. She took ballet, imitated moves she
saw in music videos, and invented routines inside her parent’s garage. She
learned to read lips and speak verbally through a speech pathologist. This
is one reason that Thompson doesn’t curse. Speaking was a hard skill to
master, she said.

Why would she waste her words?

Her parents convinced her she lacked nothing she needed to succeed.

But even they marveled at how far their daughter would go. Thompson studied
abroad in London, graduated from Louisiana State University with degrees in
psychology and English, and later from Harvard University with a master’s
degree in human development and psychology. Today, she works as the
information and program coordinator for the Disability Rights Fund. Among
the organization’s responsibilities is to provide grants to disabled
persons organizations around the world. Every Monday between June and the
end of August, Thompson teaches salsa. In the fall, she offers classes that
combine salsa with sign language. People with disabilities learn to dance
and people without disabilities can learn a new way to communicate.

“I hope my story can inspire people to take on challenges, to step outside
the box, to try things they thought they never would be able to do,”
Thompson said. “There are many people that are afraid to go dancing, but if
I can do it nobody else can use excuses.”

All her life, Thompson defined herself as a “deaf person.” Now she’s
adjusting to the title, “deafblind” person. She’s devoted herself to
learning to read in Braille, using a white cane, and tactile sign language,
which is when someone signs into her hand.

What she can see during the day is about the size of a quarter. Her
peripheral vision is gone, but her fear of losing her sight has lessened as
she finds new ways to connect without her hearing or seeing.

On summer nights when the heat seems to rise from the cobblestones, the
music draws people in to a courtyard outside the South End’s Blackstone
Community Center for “Salsa in the Park.” Two dance lessons occur at once.
Beginners listen and watch their instructor’s feet before practicing their
steps. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7. Thompson’s students watch her hands and read her
lips.

“Before I teach more things, I want to see what you remember,” Thompson
signs to 35-year-old Paul Ingemi of Norwood, a deaf electrical engineer who
comes every summer. They practice turns.

[image:
https://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2018/08/07/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/lee_080618_deafsalsa14_met.jpg]“Would
you like to dance?” he later asks a woman in sign language.

She nods and they join other couples in the courtyard.


This is the real America, said Randy DeWitt, 36, one of Thompson’s longtime
students who also has Usher Syndrome. Dancing helped improve his balance
and make friends.


“One of my goals is to dance as well as the people you see here,” said
DeWitt. “It doesn’t matter that I’m deaf or deafblind. Everyone accepts you
for who you are. Everyone just wants to dance.”

*Cristela Guerra can be reached at **cristela.guerra at globe.com
<cristela.guerra at globe.com>**. *

*Follow her on Twitter **@CristelaGuerra
<http://twitter.com/CristelaGuerra>**.*






Soloveni Vitoso

*Public Relations & Communication Officer*



Pacific Disability Forum

Ground Floor | Kadavu House

Victoria Parade | Suva

Fiji



Phone: (+679) 3312008  |  (+679) 3307530

Mobile: (+679) 8912656

Fax: (+679) 3310469

Skype: Soloveni.vitoso

Email: *infor at pacificdisability.org <infor at pacificdisability.org>*

Website: www.pacificdisability.org
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