6
	Developing Livelihoods

	Mavis Campos

Throughout the world, there is a jobs crisis.  Times are hard for millions of people in both industrialised nations as well as in developing countries.  Consider these facts.

	• 30 per cent of the world’s labour force is either out of work or under-employed.  That means that more than 820 million people world-wide are either unemployed or working at a job that does not pay a subsistence wage.  Youth unemployment is worsening.

	• Unemployment is highest among unskilled workers and immigrants in most countries.  Poor countries are hardest hit.    The situation in Africa is particularly troublesome with most countries experiencing a major decline in living standards.  In many countries, the gap has been growing between people earning high and low wages.

	• A farm labourer in a sugar cane plantation in the Philippines is paid seven pesos (28 cents) per hour but has to pay 22 pesos (88 cents) for one kilo of sugar.  A woman in Thailand has to sew 80 pairs of blue jeans to earn enough money to buy one pair of jeans.

In these situations, how can people with disabilities find and keep employment?   Even without accurate figures on the size of the problem in developing countries, it is obvious that people with disabilities are more exposed to unemployment than the rest of the population.  In many urban areas the chances of their being without work are five times more than for others.  Even where people with disabilities have access to good vocational rehabilitation services geared to finding the right sort of job, they can still expect to meet physical, cultural and social barriers which place them at a disadvantage.  With reduced income opportunities, their family and social lives are also severely limited.
	The outlook is worse for disabled women, who are among the most disadvantaged groups in Asian society.  They have fewer opportunities for vocational training and are discouraged by their family members to leave the home and often denied education.
	In this chapter we review how best to create livelihoods for people with disabilities.  From our experiences in the Philippines, promoting self-employment seems to offer the most hope (see also Chapter 11).

Vocational Training
There has long been a perception in Western countries that vocational training and employment of people with disabilities is the purview of specialized centres.  Such thinking has migrated to the developing world.
	Vocational training gives people with disabilities a sense of equality when competing for employment particularly in urban areas.  Traditionally, the training takes place in separate special centres in an urban setting.  People with disabilities from rural areas are either recruited, or are attracted to these training centres.  This migration brings with it problems of adjustment to urban life, high cost of living and difficulties in finding affordable accommodation.  Often the vocational skills they acquire are likely to be of limited value in their rural home life and members of the family may not perceive an improved work potential in them.
	Trainees often have to rely on passive income support whilst attending the centres.  But such 'dole-outs' tend to discourage work force participation and reduces self-esteem.  The main justification for the payment is that the persons are “unemployable”.
	In rehabilitation services people are often seen and classified by the single dimension of their disability and certain procedures are automatically prescribed, rather than considering people as  individuals with a varying range of characteristics and skills.  For example, is it really our experience that someone who goes blind in late age suddenly develops a burning desire to make a basket or a mat?  I knew an electrician who went blind at 50 from a vehicular accident.  He was the despair of the rehabilitation worker who tried to teach him basket-weaving.  Yet he could still repair radios and do the rewiring for his neighbours.
	Likewise it used to be the practice - and it may still be in some areas - to teach Braille at any age.  Some older people have shown a remarkable aptitude for learning it and there is much to be said for teaching the Braille alphabet to an older person who needs to use it for playing cards, or to read the labels on  containers or cassettes.  Yet, if someone who goes blind at 50 and wants to continue to read fluently, (although many people do not), would it not be better to help him or her learn how to use a tape-recorder so they can listen to talking books?  
	I am not discrediting vocational centres or skills training classes.  Many local organisations run them excellently and many people with disabilities enjoy them.  But are they in a sense a soft option?  Someone who loses sight late in life does not lose the skills and interests of a lifetime.  The role of the rehabilitation worker might well be to act less as a provider of specialised, exclusive services, and more as a facilitator, to help people with disabilities within their family and their community, so that they can continue to use their previous skills, interests and associations.
	A characteristic feature of almost every village is its wealth of skills, interests and social contacts, already familiar and wider than anything which can be provided in a setting designed exclusively for people with disabilities.  Such community integration, far from diminishing the role of the rehabilitation worker or the local community, requires from them exceptional organisational talent and skills in  networking and establishing contacts.  Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) has become the main emphasis in most developing countries and in countries like the Philippines, it has changed the lives of people with disabilities and transformed public attitudes.
	An essential component of any comprehensive CBR project should be to provide people with disabilities with the opportunities to generate their own income.

Self-employment in the rural setting
In many countries rural people account for 70-80 per cent of the total population.  As with the general population the majority of the people with disabilities therefore live in rural areas.
	Most people are engaged in the same occupations as members of their extended family and local community.  These include farming, fishing, livestock rearing, managing stores, food processing, vending, handicrafts or some village trade.
	Our experiences have shown that the community can help to improve the job marketability of its disabled members, develop their skills through the provision of on-the-job training and promote income-generating activities suitable to their special circumstances.  The role of services is to make available facilities, equipment and loans as necessary.  The employment opportunities open to people with disabilities can then be broadened, and the tendency of “job-typing” - for example, associating blind people with basket-weaving - can be repressed.
	A person with disabilities who is taught skills compatible with their disability and, as a result, is able to engage in some aspects of the family farming, fishing, handicraft or other business enterprise, is just as integrated into the mainstream as a person working in a factory in the city, doing simple repetitive, boring and not too remunerative jobs. 
	There is a growing acknowledgment that the needs of people with disabilities are best met in their own setting.  From a social point of view, this approach preserves and takes advantage of the traditional role of the family and the community in caring for the material and emotional needs of the people with disabilities.  Furthermore, it reduces the economic costs of transportation and accommodation.
	Every disabled individual who is assisted from a state of enforced dependency to achieve productivity and self-sufficiency is clearly an asset.  The family well-being and individual dignity are enhanced even when the person with disabilities is unable to achieve total self-sufficiency, but becomes somewhat less dependent upon others by contributing even in a small measure.  In our experience the disabled person engaged in family work, or self-employment is a role model and has motivated non-disabled members of the family and community into becoming wage earners.
	In sum, self-employment offers tremendous and varied possibilities for encouraging people with disabilities to take to business enterprises.  The advantage is that they can undertake the tasks for which they have the aptitude and competence, at a pace compatible with their disability.  As they work in or near their home, problems of travel and mobility are reduced.

Experiences in the Philippines
In the Philippines a number of non-government organisations working with people with disabilities in CBR programs have gained valuable experiences in creating training and employment opportunities.  I would like to share some of these experiences.  The case-studies of entrepreneurs will give a better insight into our efforts of ensuring a better quality of life for people with disabilities.
	The development of these livelihood programmes is based on the concept that the person with disabilities is central to, and an active participant in the programme.  The person with disabilities and the family make the decision and create the jobs.  The project,  and its feasibility, is discussed with the person with disabilities, the family, the field worker assigned in the area, and the project co-ordinator.  A project proposal is submitted to the administration.  On the recommendation of the project co-ordinator a loan is extended at an interest rate of six per cent per annum.  
	The field worker monitors the project, assisting the disabled person with organisational skills and simple accounts, facilitates the repayment of the loan, or recommends a second loan for expansion or diversification.  This is how Rennel is making a difference in the life of her family.

	Insert Slide 1 (Rennel) Photo

Rennel, a blind woman of 35, lives with her family in a village surrounded by rice fields.  Her family encouraged her to help with simple household chores but always under their supervision.  She prepared the feed and tended to the ducks and chickens they kept, and worked alongside her sister in preparing the family meals.  After the field worker trained her in mobility and daily living skills, her family were encouraged by her capability to do many things on her own.  Rennel was now confident and motivated to have an income to help the family.  
	The loan was for pig raising.  Her family put up the pen, and Rennel was responsible for preparing the pig feed from the root crops she grows in her garden and the bran and rice stalks she gets from the rice mills.  It was her job to feed the animals  and clean the pen.  The pig raising did not keep her busy enough and she ventured into making rice and cassava cakes which were sold as afternoon snacks.  With the profit from the sale of the cakes and one of the pigs, she renovated their house and had the thatched roof replaced with the more durable galvanized iron sheets.  For the first time too, they had electricity installed in their home.  
	Her older sister was encouraged by Rennel to open a store in front of their house which sold all the basic needs of the village community.  With a second loan, a refrigerator was bought for the store and Rennel makes ice candies and sells soft drinks which are very popular with the village children and farmers, especially during the hot summer months.
	It is very obvious that the family's quality of life has improved substantially in the two years that Rennel has had this small scale business.  She is also much admired and respected by her family and neighbours.  Her loan payments are regular and she has some savings.  With help from her sister she maintains the accounts and manages the finances.  “I am saving to have enough capital to buy the store from my sister who is moving to another village.  All this should keep me quite busy”, she adds with a chuckle.

Agriculture:  Numerous job opportunities in agriculture and rural occupations exist.  Field workers who have close rapport with their clients can facilitate and assist the disabled person into these existing income generating activities by identifying the specific aptitudes and providing on-the-job training.  Often a family member becomes the trainer.
	In many Asian countries, most of the agricultural operations such as weeding, tilling, manuring, sowing and harvesting are labour intensive as they are done manually.  A number of persons with disabilities working alongside family members are engaged in these activities.
	The objective is not to make the disabled person an expert agriculturist but rather to train him or her as a useful and contributing member of the family unit so that the disabled person can assist the family in various farm and non-farm jobs.  A trained hand truly becomes useful to the family in several ways.  This happened with Joseph.

	Insert Photo 6.1 Joseph 

Joseph, now 19 years old has been suffering from epileptic fits since he was four years of age.  Medication was irregular as the family could not afford it and Joseph suffered frequent seizures.  Due to his condition he did not go to school and was always in the home with his grandmother while the other members of the family worked in the sugar cane fields near his home.  When the field worker identified him, she first referred him for medical treatment.  Now with regular medication his seizures are under control.  
	Although Joseph has learning disabilities secondary to epilepsy, he has shown an interest in farming.  On given preliminary training by his mother, he was encouraged to develop his own vegetable plot, in which he takes great personal interest and pride.  He now works with his mother in the sugar cane fields and is paid a daily wage.

Crafts:  Home based or cottage industries which specialise in handicraft products and in Christmas decorations have recruited some disabled workers.  In the Philippines, gift items, household and handicraft products made from wood, shells or ceramics are currently among the leading export items.  
	For such an enterprise to be successful, it is essential that raw materials are easily available.  With capital through the CBR livelihood loan assistance, and the marketing of the products arranged by non-government organisations, some disabled people manage small business enterprises in handicrafts.  Pogi started small but now is known internationally for his craft-work.

	Insert Slide 2 ( Pogi)

Stricken with polio when he was three years old, Pogi, now 45, developed severe contractures and scoliosis.  Because of the lack of professional management, Pogi crawls when moving about, without kneepads and with only a pair of rubber slippers slipped through both hands.
	Even in the early years, disability did not prevent him from striving to be independent and contributing towards the family.  He lives with his mother in a coastal village and learned fishing from his neighbours.  His meagre income supported both him and his mother.  
	Five years ago he attended a four week training course on “pandan”  weaving, at a community centre near his home.  This was sponsored by a group of individuals with market outlets in the USA. 
	“Pandan” trees belong to the palm family.  The leaves are separated from the midrib, cleaned smooth with a knife and left to dry.  The dried leaves are then woven into beautiful trays, bread baskets, place-mats, etc.
	Pogi became very skilled and soon made a name for himself for his quality “pandan” crafts.  A local exporter, recognising his skill and the quality of his work, hired him.  She provided the tools and the designs.  Pogi works at home and his employer collects and pays for the work on completion. A family member also earns an income from harvesting and preparing the “pandan” for weaving.  Pogi has trained a number of non-disabled women in his neighbourhood whom he employs when he has bulk orders and during rush production periods.
	In 1991 Pogi went to Hong Kong to participate in the 3rd International Abilympics and won an award in the category on “Waste Re-Use”.
	The CBR program has linked Pogi up with exporters and overseas agencies, and the supervisory staff provide the support services, and facilitate the orders, insurance and shipment of products abroad.

Vending:  As soon as your car comes to a standstill in the traffic jams in Manila or you stop at the traffic lights, a little face appears at your window holding a garland of flowers.  “Won’t you buy my pretty flowers, Sir?”  She is a street vendor.  
 	It is a common sight to see vendors, many of who are children, weave their way through the traffic, selling a variety of goods such as cigarettes, newspapers, dusters, towels and food.  Many people earn an honest living vending.  Without any systematic training, blind people in particular seem to do well as vendors.  In rural areas the vendor goes from house-to-house.  Rodolfo is such a vendor.

	Insert Slide 3 (Rodolfo) 

Forty year old Rodolfo, blinded by measles as a child, learnt simple carpentry from his uncle and occasionally earned some pesos from making tables and chairs from bamboo slats.  More popular however were the bamboo clothes pegs he made.  His customers were only from the immediate neighbourhood.  Rodolfo did not go around the village as he had no sighted guide to take him.. 
	The field worker who identified him just two years ago, found him to be highly motivated and eager to learn independent travel techniques as he wanted to be a vendor.
	On completion of basic rehabilitation skills and after discussion with his aunt, who offered to help him with the wholesale purchasing and keeping of accounts, Rodolfo was given a loan to start his business.  He travels from village-to-village selling a variety of goods.  What has made him a successful salesman is the personal interest he takes to satisfy his customers by selling those commodities that they need and which they can order through him.  
	The family support, Rodolfo’s own initiative and skills, and periodic follow-up by the field worker have ensured success.  To add to his income he has started a small duck raising project.  He has a bank account and plans to expand and diversify his business when he has enough funds.

In today’s world it is not sufficient to provide only knowledge and skills related to rehabilitation.  We should address the issue of empowerment versus delivery of services.  Empowerment means helping people take charge of their lives.  Rennel, Pogi, Joseph and Rodolfo were restrained by social, financial and attitudinal forces from asserting such control.  Through their income-generating activities they have overcome these barriers.
Social Marketing
The ever growing unemployment and under-employment in developing  countries pose a major challenge in the employment of people with disabilities.  More than six million able-bodied Filipinos, many of who are trained professionals, work as domestic helpers overseas due to the staggering unemployment problem in the Philippines.
	Global inflation, increasing population, computerisation and tremendous advances in science and technology, all result in minimising labour intensive employment.  Moreover the lack of public awareness regarding the potentialities of people with disabilities further decreases opportunities for these people in open employment.  A number of solutions have been proposed.
	The passing of the quota scheme law, where a certain percentage of jobs were reserved for people with disabilities has been very popular with governments of developing countries.  I find this discriminatory.  What about unemployed women, ethnic minorities and the urban poor?
	Quota schemes and various legislative acts are often merely documents wherein are enshrined noble and lofty ideas.  They are often ineffective because the infrastructure for the implementation is not there.  
	Rather than the negative strategy of compulsion and punitive measures against employers, I would try the persuasion and demonstration approach.  What do I mean by this?  For us in developing countries, it is a good strategy to demonstrate to the employers and employees the potential of the person with disabilities, by offering him or her as an apprentice.  If our aim is integration and equalisation of opportunities for people with disabilities, this individualised and cost beneficial strategy of mainstreaming people with disabilities in the open labour market in urban and semi-urban settings is more acceptable.
	This handing over of a person with disabilities to the artisan, craftsman, or employer for on-the-job training may eventually ensure his future employment.   A vital consideration is to select a well motivated, well adjusted client with a pleasing personality.  The greatest pride of a teacher or instructor is the achievement of his pupil.  Therefore the instructor will do everything in his power to ensure employment of his pupil.  He knows him, knows his capabilities and he is challenged to teach him the skills because this person with disabilities will do him proud and boost his own morale.  Once an employable level of skill has been reached, the industry or enterprise may offer the disabled person permanent employment on the recommendation of the artisan trainer.  Can we ask for more?
	This is how two of our hearing impaired clients have found regular employment with the city government.  For two months they were apprentices on a landscaping and beautification project of the city.  They learnt by watching the trainer and by practising and improving their skills.  They so impressed the trainer by their attitude and willingness to work, that they were offered permanent employment on his recommendation to the city officials.
	It is really a social marketing strategy whereby we “market” the skills of people with disabilities, and convince the employers by gentle persuasion and sales talk.  However we should be careful to match the person with the job demands.  People with disabilities should get into jobs that they are capable of performing and which are satisfying to both themselves and their employers.  The successful placement of a person with disabilities is the best publicity to win over the confidence of employers.  We cannot illuminate the world but we can build many “lighthouses”!

Hope and Encouragement
Although I started this chapter with a somewhat bleak picture of the global employment situation, the employment potential of people with disabilities in our experience has been most exciting.  I hope the case studies will provide encouragement to readers of how people with disabilities and their families are capable of creating viable livelihood projects if given access to support and opportunities.
	It is also my hope that the case studies, though focusing on a developing country like the Philippines, will interest people with disabilities in industrialised countries, as they demonstrate people like themselves managing their own businesses successfully in far less favourable conditions.  With jobs in the open market becoming more and more scarce, they too may consider the possibility of self-employment as a practicable option to social service assistance or pensions.
	To our colleagues, rehabilitation workers, and staff of institutions, there is a poignant message.  Successful enterprises of many people with disabilities have been developed with the help of the family and the community and without much assistance from rehabilitation institutions or intensive vocational training.  Is there not then a need to look at new approaches in rehabilitation?

Why self-employment?
If a vast majority of people with disabilities live in rural areas, we must evolve strategies to take our rehabilitation services and livelihood programmes to the rural areas.  Self-employment, properly tackled is a viable income generating option for many people with disabilities.  The person with disabilities makes the decision and assumes a responsible and creative role in the enterprise.  It usually involves the whole family, who provide the support, security, and often times the skills needed by the person with disabilities.  In most developing countries the extended family still plays a major role.  
	These enterprises are located in or near the house so that mobility problems and transport costs are substantially reduced.  Village based enterprises use readily available materials that have a local demand.  They are therefore appropriate in that they produce goods which poor people need at prices they can afford.
	In producing handicrafts as Pogi does, optimum use is made of local labour, local equipment, local materials and the skills of the entrepreneur.
	In economic terms, self-employment represents possibly the most cost effective way of creating jobs.  Capital requirements are usually very small.  For example the maximum loan that is given out by our project for livestock raising or to run a store is P3,000 to P5,000 pesos (US $120-200).  
	Loans, rather than grants, have proved helpful in instilling values of responsibility and commitment.  The borrower tends to take the enterprise seriously and makes the effort to succeed.  With steady repayments, additional loans are made available for those who need the money for expansion or to enter a new business in addition to an already established one as many of the people in our case studies wished to do.  What the person with disabilities needs is an economic investment, NOT a dole out, NOT social welfare, NOT charity.

Afterthoughts
I have focused on self-employment as an individual activity.  I would like to make mention of group enterprises located in urban areas.  For example, in Manila a group of blind masseurs have pooled their resources and skills to start a business together and they  are doing very well.  If the group has the right leadership this form of self-employment has some obvious advantages.  The people involved can share the numerous responsibilities of business, they have company as they work together and they can benefit from the support and encouragement of each other when problems are encountered.  
	I realise too that I have failed to mention some other avenues for creating employment such as co-operatives of the disabled both industrial and rural, sub-contract jobs like packaging or simple assembly line jobs that can be done at home or in production workshops.  They are being considered within various programmes in the Philippines.  
	It is clear that a lot of work has still to be done.  Our programmes should be flexible, open to new ideas, ready for growth, to make room for the rapidly changing situations in rural environments especially.
	Our commitment remains, to enable the person with disabilities to acquire the necessary skills to live the life of his family and community.
	 Where his or her ability NOT disability is the core issue.
	 Where he or she becomes so completely woven into the 
		fabric of community life that they “disappear” into the mainstream.  
	 Where he or she is ONE OF THEM.
Ways and means to achieve this end will change and MUST CHANGE if we remain true to our mission.
	This is the vision I share with you.
	This is the challenge I leave with you.
	Let us all work towards making it a reality.

Mavis Campos is a specialist in the education of children with visual impairment and for 12 years worked with the Ministry of Education in Malaysia as a teacher and supervisor of integrated education programmes of blind and low vision students.  She was also Principal of St. Nicholas School for the Blind, in Malaysia for eight years.
	Mavis has conducted teacher training courses for special education teachers of the visually impaired in Thailand, Papua New Guinea, China and the Philippines.
	From 1989 to the present, she has been based in the Philippines as the Education and Rehabilitation Adviser of Christoffel Blinden Mission and is involved with community based rehabilitation training. She also co-ordinates the prevention of blindness program of Christoffel Blinden Mission partners in the Philippines.

Contact Address
	Cataract Foundation Philippines
	R-132 Riverside Medical Center
	Ninoy Aquino Drive
	Bacolod City
	Philippines 6100