Persons with disabilities get jobs building chairs for GenSan schools
GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – In this city, many people with disabilities do not wander the streets and ask for alms from motorists.
They do not frequent the city social services office either for government assistance.
Instead, they help build armchairs for the school children here under the program “Edukasyon Mo, Kabuhayan Mo,” which the city government undertakes with at least two foundations – the RD Foundation and the RCR Foundation.
RD Foundation is the social arm of the city’s largest operator of tuna fishing fleet – the RD Fishing while RCR Foundation is a humanitarian group put up by Mayor Ronnel Rivera.
“In lieu of hiring chair fabricators, the RD Foundation and RCR Foundation have designated 35 PWDs to construct these armchairs with an agreed payment of P700 per chair finished, which seems more … profitable for these people (PWDs),” Ryan Vidanes, executive director of RD Foundation, said.
Rivera said the armchair project under the joint venture for education – known as Alay sa Kabataan Lahat ng Alaga at Talino (Aklat) – that the city government, RD Foundation and RCR Foundation signed would not only bridge the gap between armchairs and the number of pupils but also provided additional livelihood opportunities for members of the PWD community.
Based on data provided by Aklat, 700 armchairs had so far been manufactured for distribution to Zone 11B in Uhaw in Barangay Fatima.
Earlier, the PWDs turned over 294 armchairs for distribution to Bula Elementary School and 132 more for Jose Devina Gracia Elementary School.
Vidanes said the money used for the fabrication of the armchairs and the wages of the PWDs was jointly put up by the RD Group of Companies and donations from other businesses.
Rivera said the tapping of the PWDs for the project was part of the city government’s modified social services, one of the three main agenda of his administration.
He said instead of dole outs, which could make PWDs dependent on the government, they were paid for their work.
“This way, they would not lose their dignity too because they had to toil and sweat for each centavo they earn,” Rivera said.
Vidanes said RD and RCR foundations were also eyeing the services of jobless residents with the projected construction of classrooms for some of the city’s schools.
“Aside from the armchairs, the RD Foundation and RCR Foundation plan to hopefully build two classroom buildings in public schools in the city next year to support the priority of Mayor Rivera in education,” he said.
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