NDPR DAY 3- ENTREPRENEURSHIP APPRECIATION COURSE FOR PWD

" Do not mix your personal needs and money with your business." This is the message of Captain Oscar Taleon, President of AKAPPinoy and Co-Chair of the National Working Group of NDPR Week Celebration, to the participants of the Entrepreneurship Appreciation Course for Persons With Disabilities held at the Occupational Safety and Health Center. The activity was organized by the Capacity Building and Resource Mobilization Committee of the Inter-agency Network on PWD Economic Development and Empowerment(PWeDe) chaired by Carmen Zubiaga of WOWLEAP,  with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment as Co-Vice Chairs. The National Council on Disability Affairs co-sponsored the activity with DOLE and OSHC. 


Ms. Marilyn Nicolas of DOLE developed the module and led the team of trained facilitators in administering the one day course. About 80 participants who came from about 10 organizations, benefited from the one day course which gave them ideas of how to start a small business or improve an existing one, either as individual or as a group. The participatory exercise proved to be effective considering the different levels of education of the participants. The course is a prelude to the planned activities of the PWEDE Committee on Capacity Building and Resource Mobilization which aims to assist PWDs in establishing social enterprises. The Foundation of These Abled Inc (FTI) spearheaded the formation of PWEDE and serves as the secretariat of the network. FTI is the social responsibility arm of the National Federation of Cooperatives of Persons With Disabilities.

The Women With Disabilities LEap to SOcial and Economic Progress (WOWLEAP) identified and invited participants from Rizal and the National Capital Region. The following organizations sent participants:  Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, Independent Living and Learning Center of Mandaluyong, Las Pinas Federation of Persons With Disabilities, Valenzuela Federation of Persons With Disabilities, National Vocational Rehabilitation Center, Cerebral Palsied Association of the Philippines (CPAP), CBR Coordinating Office, Jehovah Witnesses Deaf Ministry and  2 individual participants with disabilities.