Helping hand

Thursday March 12, 2009





Helping hand
WHEEL POWER
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

Crash course gives disabled group a head start.

IT IS always encouraging to hear how Malaysians with disabilities are being helped. The latest news I received is a wonderful initiative to help about 30 disabled women familiarise themselves with computers. This is to empower them to have a better quality of life through information technology.

Wheel Power spoke to Thomas Low last week.

Thomas became disabled after he was accidentally dropped as a child. The fall caused him to suffer from a condition called juvenile stroke which affected the right side of his body, causing a limp in his right leg.

Thomas is the project manager of an intensive three-month programme called Small Office Home Office (Soho).

The pilot project was organised and sponsored by eHomemakers and the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry. eHomemakers is an NGO which assists single mothers to work from home to enable them to become self-reliant. Thomas’s job is to oversee the training of the 30 participants in the project which ended early this year.

“There were so many challenges to overcome before the training could even start,” he said.

First, he had to find and identify women who were wheelchair users. Soho was also keen on working with people who use crutches for mobility.

“Finding them was not easy,” Thomas recalled. “I did some active canvassing and approached disability organisations, attended functions for the handicapped, and made call after call to recruit participants for the course.”

The initial reaction from the women wasn’t welcoming either. Many were sceptical about the training.

“Some even thought I was a conman,” said Thomas, with a laugh.

The training was free, with meals and refreshments included.

A daily transport allowance was also given to each participant. The course included soft skills training to give the women a better chance of securing jobs.

Areas covered included confidence-building and phone etiquette.

The programme also covered stuff such as Office, Skype, Facebook, blogging and e-mail. The participants were also taught about nasty viruses that could invade computers and how to prevent such virus attacks.

Locating a disabled-friendly venue with 30 units of computers with Internet facilities was another major hurdle.

“I approached cyber cafes and computer training centres but almost all of them gave me the cold shoulder,” said Thomas.

Finally, it was the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) Kuala Lumpur that rallied to their aid.

“They had the right place, ample parking space, and disabled-friendly facilities in their building,” said Thomas.

“They had a large classroom with as many as 30 computers at our disposal. They even had a spacious bedroom for those who wished to stay in. The YWCA staff were very accommodating, making changes here and there to suit the participants’ special needs,” he added.

Participants came from as far as Kajang, Bangi and Rawang in Selangor.

All 30 disabled women are now looking for job openings.

If you can help these women, please contact eHomemakers ( 03-7726 5271 ).