National Leadership Institute Held for Women with Disabilities in the Philippines
Background
KAMPI (the national federation of 237 grassroots organization of persons with disabilities in the Philippines) otherwise known as Disabled Peoples International (DPI)-Philippines prides itself as one of the few DPI National Assemblies which has had women as its top leaders since the Federation officially organized in July 1990.
Over the years, KAMPI has consistently demonstrated willingness to allow its women members to grow, realize their potentials and assume leadership positions. Women have been elected as office bearers in the national, regional as well as the grassroots organizations levels.
This "open-mindedness" and appreciation for women's leadership abilities has enabled the Philippines to produce the first ever woman chairperson of DPI Asia-Pacific Region. Venus M. Ilagan was elected to the post in November 2000 at DPI's Regional Assembly held in Ventiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Inspired by the desire to continue developing the leadership potentials of young women-members in KAMPI's grassroots organizations, the 1st National Leadership Institute for Women with Disabilities was conceptualized and was implemented through funding support from the Abilis Foundation of Finland.
Some 20 pre-screened women-leaders who have displayed leadership abilities in their own grassroots organizations were invited to take part in the 4-day Institute.
The Institute
The Institute was held April 7-11, 2001 at an isolated beach resort in extreme Northern Luzon, Philippines - a fitting site for the gathering of young women leaders just starting to realize what a difference they can individually and collectively create for the empowerment of disabled women -perceived as the most disadvantaged, most neglected and least recognized members of the country's community of persons with disabilities.
Four days proved too short to listen to the seemingly endless ideas of brilliant young women who for the first time, have found a suitable venue of "unleashing" the thoughts they have been thinking for years but never got the chance to openly share with other people until this Institute.
Unleashing "woman power"
Participants have found out they will never be the same again after the four days they have shared together. Life will no longer be idle and boring. It will be busier as the Institute has filled them with new ideas, skills and the fire to explore how they can widen their horizons and be effective catalysts of change in their respective homes, organizations and communities.
Inferiorities and misconceptions were among the barriers that the training was able to break, according to these remarkable women with disabilities who said they are more determined now to work for the realization of their potentials as productive members of society and no longer be contented with being bystanders and passive spectators as developments and decisions are made by other people in their behalf. "We will take up the cudgels ourselves," one lady retorted.
If others can, why can't we?
Much self-introspection has taken place during the 4-day training, the best of which is the realization that disabled women they may be, they are capable of becoming good and effective leaders of their organizations and their communities. This was the single overwhelming idea that was generated as participants listed the supposed qualities of an effective leader as they see it, which to their surprise, almost all of them possess.
To be a good leader, women with disabilities must also make things happen. To be able to effectively implement the plans of the organization, the women agreed that a leader must practice the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,written by Franklin Covey.
The discussion covered the need to be proactive and optimistic, set goals and priorities, serve with humility, value the differences and establish balances.
Aside from this, participants were also given a chance to get to know themselves better through activities that allowed them to assess how they deal with others and how they rate as leaders.
Women with disabilities are sexual beings, too
"I am no longer afraid to have a boy friend and have a family," said Elena Agacoscos, 25, with cerebral palsy who had the most severe disability among the 20 participants. She has just been elected representative of Region III to the incoming Board of Governors of KAMPI.
Elena just echoed the renewed optimism of women with disabilities who claimed to have learned so much about sexuality during the discussions facilitated by two of KAMPI's rehabilitation project staff, Occupational Therapist Mario Bagsit and Social Worker Ma. Socorro Balingit.
The best that came out of the discussion on sexuality is the clarification of some misconceptions that women with disabilities had. The most prominent misconception was the notion that women with disabilities could not enjoy love-making and were physically incapable of childbirth.
The discussion on foreplay and different sexual positions possible to accommodate different disabilities had aroused the curiosity of the participants. They were encouraged to ask questions which for many years they had thought was taboo and morally inappropriate to discuss openly especially by young women like themselves.
The timidity of the participants was washed away by their curiosity and a building confidence in themselves - making them bold enough to ask questions related to such matters as reproductive organs, love-making techniques, birth-spacing and family planning, etc. They mustered enough courage to ask questions, unleashing inner thoughts and feelings which they had kept to themselves for years. What a relief to share such intimate thoughts!
Leave a legacy: fundraise for worthy, high-impact projects
Venus M. Ilagan shared with the participants lessons she had learned threading her way along the challenging road of fundraising from international donor agencies. According to her, "as you solicit support from funding agencies for the implementation of your organization's projects, you leave a legacy behind."
Proof of her legacy is this Training Institute for Women with Disabilities that has received funding support from Abilis Foundation of Finland - a fruit of her hard work, goodwill and resourcefulness.
She discussed in-depth the need for women with disabilities to have faith in their abilities and use these abilities to bring much needed change for the empowerment of their colleagues in the sector of persons with disabilities. She shared a motto from one of the international conferences on women empowerment she participated in a few years ago: "Challenge yourself and change the world."
Ms. Ilagan stressed the role non-disabled technical staff of KAMPI played and their valuable contributions to realizing the goal of making KAMPI an effective front-liner in the effort to empower Filipinos with Disabilities.
Forge Supportive Partnerships
She said disabled persons should not feel uncomfortable working and trusting non-disabled partners. "At this point in time, we should recognize the fact that we need their (non-disabled persons') expertise to push forward our initiatives. Let us complement one another's efforts and strength in building a community that is more accepting of persons with disabilities - a society that focuses its eyes less on the disability but more on our abilities and how these can be harnessed for the general benefit and wellbeing of everyone," Venus Ilagan stressed.
Fund-raising is more than just writing a proposal and "technically packaging" the same. The bigger task goes to getting the interest of funders to the product the proponent is "selling" and selling the concept to the right people at the right opportunity. Ms. Ilagan shared her experiences at fund-raising and the valuable lessons she has learned from the exercise.
She said the bottom line is for one to know exactly what she wants, how this will change for the better lives and wellbeing of intended beneficiaries, will it be sustainable in the long term, is it replicable in areas with similar social/cultural/political and economic circumstances? "If your answer to these questions is yes, then half of the job is done," she quipped.
However, for women with disabilities who are just starting to mobilize funds, their fundraising can be done right at their doorsteps. This idea was brought to their attention as they discussed creative resourcing, facilitated by KAMPI researcher Rhea Rabin.
In the face of dwindling international support and the continuing emergence of so-called grassroots initiatives and civil-society endeavors, mobilizing resources from outside aid agencies has become a highly competitive proposition.
The bigger challenge for women with disabilities who want to pursue efforts through development initiatives is to put to work their individual and collective abilities in tapping local resources by employing innovative approaches.
Based on the discussions that ensued, the women easily identified prospective sources of much needed start-up funds for their initiatives right within their communities. Each one shared her previous attempts and/or experiences at fund-raising. The sharing resulted in valuable inputs on what efforts worked and those which did not produce the desired results.
Predominantly Catholics, the participants learned from the successes of Region III participants Elena Agacoscos and Melody Espanol at local fund-raising ,who said that the church may indeed be an effective and supportive ally in the efforts for disabled persons. Based on the experiences of these two women, church leaders can indeed provide both financial and spiritual support for disabled persons' initiatives.
The ensuing experiences shared by other participants in their fund-raising efforts affirmed the existence of cash and non-cash resources right within their communities. The discussion encouraged the participants to be resourceful in identifying resources and be creative in formulating strategies at getting the support they need for their activities.
The activity was followed by a planning session.
Trainings need not be boring, they can be fun, too
When you have 20 energetic, hyper-active and fun-loving young women with disabilities gathered in one place, loneliness or the feeling of being alone is an entirely strange and unknown phenomena.
The four-day programme deviated somewhat from the usual activities that make up training-seminars. The Institute's curricula combined team building exercises, practical aerobics, and cultural activities in addition to group discussions on leadership issues, organizational development, fund-raising, sexuality and reproductive health, income generation and advocacy.
Through outdoor and physical activities such as aerobic exercises, camping, swimming and dancing, the participants challenged pre-conceived limitations and experiences the expanded possibilities of women with disabilities working together.
Sharing the burden
Cost for accommodation and meals for the four day Institute, transportation from Manila to the venue and back to Manila, materials and other miscellaneous expenses was provided by KAMPI and the Abilis fund.
Air/boat/taxi/bus fares of participants from their homes to Manila and back, was provided either by the government agencies and non-government organizations who nominated the participants or through the individual participant's own fund-resourcing initiative. The cost-sharing scheme worked!
The dawning of DAWN-Philippines
With this rare gathering of brave, bright and beautiful (dubbed as Company B) women with disabilities at this training Institute, Ms. Ilagan took the opportunity to initiate the formation of what is now known as Differently-Abled Women's Network (DAWN)- Philippines, a national coalition of women with disabilities wanting to serve as catalysts for change in this country of 7.5 million persons with disabilities.
Ms. Ilagan emphasized that DAWN-Philippines, established by women with disabilities from various parts of the archipelago, will be an organization within the KAMPI structure.
She stressed that DAWN-Philippines will be the women's group whose specific purpose is to ensure that the concerns of grassroots women with disabilities will be consistently and consciously made part of KAMPI's national agenda for persons with disabilities.
It will be the core group that will constitute KAMPI's women's committee to ensure that women's concerns are not left out when KAMPI plans activities and implements projects and charts the direction it will pursue in its future. Most importantly, DAWN-Philippines will create opportunities for change that will ultimately bring to the fore, the once unheard of voice of women with disabilities in the country-side.
Aside from a work plan, DAWN-Philippines has come up with a resolution to be presented to the incoming KAMPI Board of Governors (2001-2003) seeking recognition by KAMPI of this pioneering initiative of disabled women in the Philippines - which might also be the first effort of its kind in Southeast Asia.
With a good number of women in the new KAMPI Board supporting them plus the convincing power of the prime initiator, Venus Ilagan herself, the brave, bright and beautiful women are optimistic they will succeed in what they refer to as their first "bold act" at breaking the barriers and creating change for the recognition of the rights of women with disabilities in KAMPI.
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