Disability is not Inability

:: The Vitendo Enterprises

background

Poverty is one of the most significant impacts of the over 3 million persons living with disbility in Kenya. Majority of people with disability are not able to access employment by virtue of the disability. The private and the public sector are not firendly enough to persons with disability to be able to use the huge potential available in the community.

There has been an increase in employment within manufacturing of the various goods for export mainly in companies owned by Kenyans of indian origin. This has been beneficial mainly to the deaf in Nairobi.

There has always been the role of civil society in providing some form of employment to the sector. This is in form of projects that serve the community in various areas from manufacturing assistive devices to providing services health or education related to fellow community members under funding from some sources.

This also depends to a large extent on the education capabilites of the leadership in the community, and the availability of quality education that is able to overcome the limitations or challenges of disability. People with communication disability have the highest challenges in education and training facilities for skills that have a productive return.

These commendable efforts however have not reached a critical mass that can effectively save the community from abject poverty that so much depresses. Over 85 percent of persons with disabilities still depend on handouts and families or some institution.

More Barriers to entering productive life

Persons with disabilities have more barriers to entry into productive employment than any other community in Kenya or indeed the developing countries.

Many are taught skills which however are not able to generate productive output due:

a) to low value of their products,

b) lack of markets,

c) lack of credit or creditworthiness in the banks eyes due to disability,

d) lack of training or disability-friendly training,

d) lack of support structures to manage their business outfits,

Vitendo Enteprise Programme services:

Vitendo works on the principles of integration to facilitate productive employment of persons with disabilities. Self employment is encouraged as much as employment in public and private sector business or institutions.

a) Training on the skills required to take advantage available productive life.

b) Microfinance Credit facilities that are specifically disability-senstive.

c) Education research for value added skills which PWDs can productively explore to maximise its potential.

d) Products market research for goods produced by various organisations employing persons with disabilities.

e) Policy research to encourage more incetnives to companies that provide employment to persons with disabilities.





Ability International.

Category: Inclusion, education

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