BY JOY OFASIA
DEVELOPMENT Service Exchange in strong partnership with Young Women Christian Association has recently held a 2-days Rehabilitation Ability Scheme workshop-training program.
The primary objective of the workshop is to train girls and women with special needs (or disabilities) on how to work and share through mentoring, leadership, and life skill training and also to enable them to understand what it is like to be connected to able girls and women.
General Secretary of Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), Jocelyn Lai said that to provide such training for this special group is just the beginning.
“We will continue to help Rehabilitation Ability Scheme (RAS) and we will go further together because it is just the beginning,” she told Solomon Women.
The training was held at the YWCA conference room in Honiara and the participants of the workshop were made up of local girls and women from several communities within Honiara with special needs or disabilities status.
Meanwhile, YWCA Volunteer and facilitator of the program, Diana Ma’ahoro, acknowledged the Development Service Exchange (DSE) for funding the training workshop program and the YWCA for facilitating the training and also in providing the accommodation and venue for the workshop.
On the first day of the workshop, the group covered topics of self-esteem, values, and the different types of leadership on how to become good leaders in the communities, women rights to help young people start to think about what women’s rights are, why we need to focus on it and the discrimination on women and how it affects us all.
Whist on the second day of the training, the girls went through a life skill training session in which they learned how to make Lavalava tie-dying, jewelry making with paper beads.
However, YWCA is planning to establish and facilitate more training programs for the women and girls with disabilities (special needs) residing in the various communities in Honiara City.
Mrs. Lai described the Rehabilitation Ability Scheme (RAS) workshop-training program as an eye-opener for most of these girls with special needs.
“The training was an eye-opener for most of the RAS participants. We are one of the active women Associations in the country are looking forward to carrying out a series of full mentoring, leadership, and life skill training sessions with this group of women and girls soon.
“Therefore we humbly ask for those who have the qualities and qualifications to assist us in both materials and human resources and more especially we need facilitators to support us in facilitating more training for this special group of women and girls.
Mrs. Lai believes that by going through this mentoring trainings the women and girls with disabilities will be able to come out from their shell and break out from the fear that has kept them locked in their world for many years.
“YWCA is happy to look after these women with special needs and more especially to empower them from now and onwards,” the General Secretary of YWCA added.
