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EDITION 086 (1190)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 02, 2013
COMMUNITY THE VSO IN MONGOLIA: MAINSTREAMING DISABILITY FOR A MUCH BETTER SOCIETY By JERICK AGUILAR
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art of the experience of a foreigner living overseas is to meet other foreigners living overseas. This is very much different from a tourist meeting fellow tourists in the same country because they have the same, if not a similar, reason for being there – to visit its sights. For foreign residents obviously and however, there are different explanations as to why they chose to spend some of their professional lives in another country such as Mongolia. Mine was to teach in a place where I had never been. And for a handful of people I know in UB, theirs was to volunteer in helping disabled Mongolians. These people I have met are volunteers from the VSO which stands for the Volunteer Service Organization. I am not from this organization so I cannot write much about it except that the VSO is the UK’s equivalent of the US’ Peace Corps. These volunteers, not just from these two organizations but from other international NGOs as well that are operating in Mongolia, are talented and skillful individuals. Most of them I know or I heard about have left highpaying jobs in their home countries so that they can start helping people around the world. And it so happened that most of my VSO acquaintances and friends have given their attention to Mongolians living with disabilities. According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People in 2006, “PWDs (People With Disabilities) include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which in interaction
with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on equal basis with others.” The VSO uses this definition along with the one from the Mongolian Law on Social Security for Persons with Disabilities, stating “the term ‘a disabled person’ means an individual with a permanent inability to engage in social relations by reason of physical, mental, or sensory impairments which can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.” In the organization’s Position Paper in 2001, it states that “(the) VSO supports a right-based, inclusive approach (to PWDs) which recognizes that society must change if disabled people are to achieve full inclusion and active, barrier-free participation.” In their Disability Goal, they explain further that “(the) VSO aims to support disabled people in exercising their rights and to promote their full inclusion and active participation as equal members of their families, communities, and societies.” VSO is also “committed to including more disabled people as active and equal partners in its work as partners, volunteers, and staff.” The VSO believes that PWDs have the same needs as non-disabled people which are fundamental, basic, political, and psycho-social. Fundamental needs include the right to life, communication, mobility, equal opportunities, and social acceptance; basic needs such as food, clean water, shelter, health, education, as well as income and employment; political needs like the freedom to speak, freedom to associate, right to organize, representation, as well as legal and voting rights; and psycho-social needs, namely,
friends and relationships, family, reproductive rights, and equal access to services. In its approach to mainstreaming disability particularly in Mongolia, the VSO conceptualized The Social Model of Disability that was actually put together by PWDs themselves. The model is a way of looking at disability and sees that it is society holding disabled people back which stops them from taking part like nondisabled people. Hence, many of the problems experienced by PWDs are due not to their specific impairments but to the way society is organized and the barriers it creates. These societal barriers include prejudice and stereotypes, inflexible organizational procedures and practices, as well as inaccessible information, buildings,
and means of transport. With the help of its volunteers, the VSO is encouraging and promoting several shifts in society’s thinking about disability, namely, from it being an individual to a societal problem; that differences in abilities are not inadequacies but assets; seeing strengths instead of deficits; from special service provision to accessible mainstream services; from society choosing for PWDs to PWDs choosing for themselves; that professionals do not always know best because people have different kinds of knowledge; from a charity to a rights-based approach; to treat PWDs as citizens and not patients; from an institution to a community-orientated strategy; and from the exclusion-tolerance “us and them” to the inclusion-
valuing “all of us.” In terms of inaccessibility, the VSO has observed that Mongolia has a disabling environment for PWDs. Much of everywhere and in most aspects of social and working life, physical arrangements and urban-rural designs only serve the non-disabled majority. More specifically, the aisles in shops and the height of food items on shelves are inaccessible for wheelchair users, as well as the corridors in offices, width of doors, height of public phone boxes, and other public amenities such as ATMs of Automated Teller Machines. The problem is even exacerbated with the current design of buses and trains that do not accommodate them; and by obstacles on walkways and pavements such as badly parked ve-
hicles, broken or uneven paving, as well as current roadwork that ignores their need for easy passage. There is also the absence of ramps and elevators for them. To the inconvenience of deaf people, there are no text telephones for them to use. In addition, there is a scarcity of visual signs for visually impaired people directing them to safety and warning them against danger. More importantly, however, the VSO deems that accessibility is not just about physical access but also ensuring that PWDs are not discriminated against in any way, either passively such as lack of information or actively like employers or other people abusing them. The VSO is realistic in that change cannot happen overnight. It reminds its volunteers to always stop and think, asking how they can help change the lives of disabled Mongolians and strategizing simple ways that can make a big and lasting impact. Change is, indeed, a slow process so volunteers are encouraged to start small with an achievable goal. I am very much honored to have met and become friends with these VSO volunteers. They are an inspiration particularly with regard to volunteerism. How I wish I had enough money to travel and not work so that I can spend my time helping others like they do. I personally do not know any disabled person from where I am from and here in Mongolia. But it is good to know that there is an organization that cares for them and volunteers who want to make a difference in their lives and in Mongolian society. Here is hoping that the VSO makes its presence even much stronger in the country.
MONGOLIA DRAWS ADVENTUROUS VOLUNTEERS By TEGAN CHAPMAN
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n increasing number of foreigners from around the world are choosing Mongolia as a place to work and live for a variety of volunteering projects. People from as far away as England, America, and Australia are heading to the country to find out more about the real story behind "Outer Mongolia" – while also gaining new skills. Travellers on gap years, graduates, or people on career breaks, are opting to travel to UB not just as a tourist, but as a volunteer, to learn about the life of people in Mongolia and the challenges they face. Using firms such as New Choice and Projects Abroad, these travellers see volunteering as a great opportunity to share ideas and make new friends while gaining or furthering a skill they may already have or wish to develop, as well as being given the chance to immerse themselves in Mongolian life and culture in a way they would not be able to as a tourist. Volunteering projects are available in teaching, care, medicine, midwifery, nursing, business, journalism and law and human rights. Kiera Hopper, from Queensland, Australia, has recently finished a two month journalism volunteering project at television station NTV.
Kiera Hopper The 23-year-old, who organized her project through New Choices, said, “I am a passionate videographer and photojournalist and I wanted the chance to carry out this role in a different environment. “The reason I adventured to this barren and exotic nomadic land was that I have a passion for diverse cultures, travel and adventure. “I also wanted to experience and have a taste in their inspiring journalism, to have the chance to witness some of their captivating
events and to hear some of their remarkable stories." For some people volunteering offers the chance to add something to help them stand out in the job market. Politics student at Oxford University in England, Alyssa Middleton, is currently working as a policy advisor for Amnesty International as part of a six-week volunteering program. The 19-year-old said, “Getting a job is tough, and I know when I finish university I will need something that makes me stand out
Heather Hermann from the rest, and I thought that volunteering in Mongolia would set me apart from everyone else; as well as allowing me to gain invaluable experience, and see a completely new and different place I might not have otherwise seen.” While volunteering abroad is seen by some as an exotic long vacation, it's not always an easy ride. Student nurse Heather Hermann, 25, from Chicago, USA, worked at the Maternal State Hospital #3 in Ulaanbaatar for three
weeks as a volunteer. "I went to Mongolia to be able to do something very few people do, no one goes to Mongolia on vacation and I wanted a truly unique adventure,” she said. “While I had some troubles adjusting, and to be honest, really hated the food, I'm still glad I volunteered. It was very hard work, and I think it has helped make me a stronger person. I have no regrets.” Most people volunteer because they want to give something back to the world, but in
Alyssa Middleton reality, the volunteers benefit just as much as the local communities they are helping. Heather added, “Spending three weeks in Mongolia was an unforgettable experience and I feel like I learned a lot more about the local environment than I would have done as a tourist, living and working with locals, who, obviously, have a much better knowledge of the area than any guide book.”