LOCATED on Wards Road at Hohola, adjacent
to the PNG power office in Port Moresby is what was formerly known as the
Chesire Home. At first glance one would think that it is a place where people
living with disAbility (PLWD) are housed and cared for. This was the perception
that I, like most other Papua New Guineans had of this charitable and
non-governmental organization. How amazed I was when I went in to talk to the
program coordinator, Paulus Pasbon for one of the programs that the
organization runs. It was a real eye
opener.
Chesire disAbility Services as it
is known today has been operating in the country since it was first built in
1965, 48 years spent in providing a wide range of disAbility services to over
600 to the people of PNG. It is a member of Global Alliance of Leonard Cheshire
Disability International based in the United Kingdom with 50 branches
worldwide. PNG is the only country in the Pacific and East Asia to be part of
this noble network with the regional headquarters based in Bangkok, Thailand.
In 2010 it embraced new strategic
plans, which was a way of doing away with the long-held image that the public
had of the organization. The first change made was the name, from Cheshire Home
to Cheshire DisAbility Services (CDS). It now focuses more on inclusive development
programs, centered around the government’s PNG Vision 2030, disAbility policy,
Millinium Development Goals (MDG’s) and United Nations Conventions on Rights of
People Living with disAbility (UNCRPWD), among others. The key areas that it
now focuses on are development in education, health, social & adequate
access to livelihoods.
SERVICES
It currently provides five major services,
residential care protection (RCP), Physiotherapy and Outreach (PO), Community
Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Young Voice program (YVP) and Inclusive Education
(IE) with emphasis placed on inclusiveness, an approach which is aimed at not
taking away the right of the PLWD to be removed from parental and family care
but to assist and develop the PLWD to integrate well into the community in
which he or she lives.
A major service CDS provides is
the Residential Care and Protection (RCP), a program that caters for 21 full
time residents who are provided parental support, love and care by fulltime
volunteer carers. Out of the 21 residents, 12 are with severe disabilities. A
majority of them are female. A total of 14 staff and 1 registered nurse provide
residential care and medical services to the special residents. Family visits
are conducted as part of the program with this approach aimed at assisting the
residents to familiarize themselves with family members for eventual
resettlement back to their respective homes.
Physiotherapy and outreach is
another program that is being provided by Chesire Disability Services. It
provides physio activities at the centre and to homes of PLWD’s. Other
components of this program are the outreach part, community and health workers
are trained, mobility and supportive aids are provided to PLWD, and the
organization also assists in establishing disAbility rights and advocacy
networks in communities.
A new program initiated by Digicel Foundation is the CBR, and
its main objective is to draw attention and awareness to disAbility issues.
This program sees officers from the centre go out into the communities to
identify PLWD’s within communities. Once PLWD’s are identified then a number of
things are done, they are evaluated and assessed and according to their
disAbility are recommended for a specific program. An important part of this
program is engaging people within communities to actively participate in the
programs under CBR.
YVP is specifically tailored for youths with disAbility and
its aim is to empower young PLWD’s with knowledge, skills and confidence to
know their rights provided for under the UNCRPWD. It aims to empower young
people (PLWD’s) to have a voice and to advocate effectively the message across
to the people that PLWD’s are like all able men and women. They should not be
stigmatized and discriminated against and should be accorded the same
privileges.
Inclusive
Education is aimed at providing education for all PLWD’s to integrate into
mainstream schools. It also seeks to advocate teachers within mainstream
schools to have special training to deal with PLWD’s. Other programs provided
under this are the Deafness Education, School and Community ear and eye
screening and Inclusive Sports amongst other things.
FUNDING
The Chesire disAbility Services is a non- government organisation
(NGO) and solely relies on the funding from donor partners to carry out and
implement its programs. Speaking to the Research Advocacy and Awareness
facilitator Christine Wamala, she explained that without current support from
existing donor partners such as Digicel Foundation, National Capital District
Commission, National Gaming Control Board, Christofell Blinden Mission, and
Ausaid (SPSN) the programs would not be possible. Wamala invited more donors to
partner with the charitable organization as it is through funding that a lot of
success stories have emerged and a lot more can happen.
For further queries or more information on this wonderful
organization, contact can be made on phone numbers, 340 2702/3409165 or email
cdspngierc@yahoo.com.
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