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Among special invitees to the workshop were Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran and PAHO/WHO Resident Representative, Eng. Adrianus Vlugman, who both delivered brief remarks.
The five-day assessment was conducted by Dr. Beckles, assisted by NCPD’s Human Resource and Training Officer, Ms. Sonya La Maitre, who not only visited the Georgetown-based ODC, but travelled to various communities across four regions of Guyana where the PWDs abide, listened to their concerns and success stories, and made personal observation of facilities and other resources in place for their benefit.
The exercise had the added feature of allowing officials opportunity to assess how Guyana’s Persons with Disabilities Act 2010 has been working for its beneficiaries.
According to Dr. Beckles, the one-week field visit to Guyana provided the foundation for development of the Community Needs Assessment, and everyone who participated had a sincere interest in improving the quality of life for persons with disabilities in Guyana.
The outcome of the assessment, documented without prejudice, will be used to develop a draft strategic plan for Open Doors Centre.
Dr. Beckles said, “The intent of the use of this information is to guide Open Doors Centre in their strategic planning for the next three to five years.”
The initiative was made possible through financial and other forms of support from the Government of Guyana and PAHO in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, and was facilitated by NCPD in Trinidad.
The Open Doors Centre is committed to offering education and vocational training to PWDs in scientific technical and commercial fields, with a view to providing employment and income-earning opportunities to integrate or reintegrate them into the open society, according to its Mission Statement.
Open Doors Centre is an activity within Programme Seven of the Rehabilitation Services of the Ministry of Health in Guyana.
The Centre, which has been in existence for just over 10 years, is the only institution providing vocational training for PWDs in Guyana.
KEY FINDINGS
According to the report, the community leaders who were interviewed identified three main issues impacting persons with disabilities:
* Lack of vocational training, or access to vocational training for PWDs
* Lack of employment opportunities (high rates of unemployment)
* Lack of accessible transportation on a national basis and also with reference to Open Doors; High cost of transport for PWDs; long distances to be covered to get to Open Doors.
While some community leaders felt that the problems and issues were being addressed, the majority felt they were not being addressed.
The report noted that “the absence of an official Guyanese sign language emerged as a fourth issue”, constituting a major communication barrier. The report said: “In general, most individuals who contributed opinions believed that the country was making efforts to address issues facing persons with disabilities. However, based on the number of PWDs in Guyana and the perception of the community, there is still much work that needs to be done”.
The report said particular reference was made to the Persons with Disabilities Act 2010, and the reconstituted National Commission on Disabilities.
Other concerns raised by PWDs were the challenges being faced by Open Doors Centre. The lack of organisation and management, as evidenced by:
* Inadequate organisational structure
* Inadequate human resource skill set
* Inadequately trained staff
* No human resource management system
* No succession planning
* Absence of an official Guyanese sign language.
Also causing some concern were:
* the lack of training programmes being offered by Open Doors among the general public
* Inadequate work attachment opportunities for PWD trainees
* Inadequate physical infrastructure
* No accessible transportation at Open Doors Centre.
The participants providing their opinions also expressed their thoughts on what specifically Open Doors Centre could do to improve the services and programmes for persons with disabilities. Accordingly, the following opinions and suggestions were identified:
* Improvement of organisation and management
* Transferring Open Doors from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Education
* Acquiring certification and accreditation of training at Open Doors Centre
* Establishing an Assessment Unit to recruit trainees to Open Doors Centre
* Expand vocational skills training
* Revamp the physical infrastructure of Open Doors
* Acquire accessible transport
* Establish satellite organizations
*Craft strategic private sector partnerships and linkages
* Lobby for establishment of an official Guyanese sign language (GSL)
* Advertise and promote Open Doors Centre.
“I think we collected enough data to inform the Strategic Plan for Open Doors,” Dr Beckles said. But she was concerned that the Open Doors Centre being in Georgetown is a challenge. She was concerned about its size, and the fact that without transportation people from other locations would not be able to participate. She said that would only aggravate the problem for the PWDs. Therefore, she suggested that the ideal approach should be to decentralise the programme.
“What we see coming out is the need to build alliances and build some standardized programmes, and expand the programmes so that people in other regions can get the same training without having to travel to Georgetown,” Dr. Beckles said.
She commended the hospitality of all who welcomed the team to Guyana and shared their stories as they did their field work, adding that the views and opinions shared were very much appreciated.
“We did not have any challenges with people sharing information and being very open and practical.” She however reiterated that “something that came out very significant everywhere we went was the need for an official Garden Sign Language (GSL)… and we hope we could see something emerging, however small.”
