Dear Christophe
This is an inspiring program you have and dealing with a group that is in extreme need of such support. Congratulations on your efforts to bring to light role models that are usually kept behind the scenes. What percentage out of the total population, the target group compose?
best wishes for you and your courageous team
Abdelfattah Abusrour, Palestine
Many thanks for the kind comments - greatly appreciated
To your important points:
Unfortunately we have only touched the tip of the iceberg (or palm tree as we say here!) in terms of numbers. Due to the horrendous consequences of over 30 years of civil conflict, the landmine (over 40,000 survivors!) and polio we have a long way to go yet.
Reality is that we could start Women Wheelie clubs overnight in all 23 provinces in Cambodia however we are simply limited by resources (funding) and at this point we are only working with 20+ females noting that each time we receive some funding – we manufacture another racing wheelchair and introduce another Cambodian woman with a disability to the joy of sport.
In addition, Over the years we have faced significant barriers within the INGO / Aid and development world, where we still see to this very day, a failure, to recognise the unique and very powerful ability of sport to foster positive social change – However this attitude, thankfully, is changing and our thanks to the Nike Changemakers initiatives which are assisting to change this mindset as more and more people become aware of the unique power of sport
I do hope that the day comes when we can send a Cambodian team over to Palestine to compete and network with your athletes!
Hi Lombe - Many thanks for the kind words - we try our best here in Cambodia and keep an eye on our website for updates as Cambodian Women with a DisABILITY are on the Move and fast becoming the sporting heroes of the nation
Wow - this is a really amazing endeavor and exciting to see an organization who is using sport to address a disabled population.
There's an organization called the Wheelchair Foundation, http://www.wheelchairfoundation.org/, which donates wheelchairs abroad. I've heard they've had some difficulties exporting these to other countries, because they get stuck in customs. Because you have government support, they might be an interesting partner for you to explore?
I'm also interested in knowing more about how many people are in need of a wheelchair and if you expect that number to increase over time because of the increased visibility of your organization? Do you expect that number to level off at some point because of heightened awareness by the government to address disabled population issues?
Really appreciate your comments (thanks – It gives us motivation!) and your ideas.
Regarding Wheelchairs – I’ll most definitely follow through with your suggestion as our positive relationship with the government does help when it comes to the customs issues (and I know how hard the customs issues can be!)
Here is how we approach the wheelchair issue at this end
The CNVLD Wheelie project is relatively new (started in ‘07) – Firstly we designed a wheelchair for local manufacture in order to ensure equality amongst the athletes from a sporting perspective (all athletes in the same chairs). These racing wheelchairs are manufactured here in Phnom Penh (and let me say that we are very proud of our local chairs – heavy that they may be!) by students of the Don Bosco Vocational Training Centre for disadvantaged youth. In addition there are excellent day chairs here manufactured by local organisations such as the Jesuit Relief Service and other agencies.
We have also received 3 international standard racing chairs kindly donated by the Canadian National Volleyball Team on their visit here last year and only one week ago did we decide that its time for CNVLD wheelie athletes to hit the international racing circuit starting with a 10 K race at the upcoming Melbourne (Australia) Marathon in October 09.
In terms of numbers, you may have seen in another mail, that we have a long long way to go and are only limited by resources funding) as we could quite literally open up hundreds of wheelchair clubs given the opportunity – Its important to understand that Cambodia (unfortunately) has the highest % of disabled persons per head of population in the world, so an enormous task still lies ahead of us – However we are a very determined team and step by step (or roll by roll), each year, we introduce more Cambodian women with a disABILITY to the joy and power of sport as a means to restore an individuals self esteem and to give that individual hope
Look forward to furthered discussions and from all of us here in Cambodia – Fantastic work by the Nike Changemakers Crew – so “Go Cambodia, Go Changemakers and Go Nike!”
Volleyball! My passion. Unfortunatelly I was not tall enought to keep going with real promises. hahahaha
What an incredible initiative and, I have to say, among the few in this competition that are totally focused on WOMEN.
Women Win would love to know more about the progress of this initiative.
Women Win is the first ever international women’s fund that supports sport and physical activities as instruments for social change and women’s empowerment.
Women Win will use the competition to find a fellow between the ages of 15 and 65 years old that positively change the lives of women and girls in their community through sports.
Many thanks Renata and very much appreciate the comments - We are exceptionally proud of our Women Wheelie teams ( who are now recognised sporting heroes) with the next step of our development (now underway) being to train 2 of the Wheelies as full time mangers of the program so that the Program is "managed by Cambodian Women with a Disability for Cambodian Women with a Disability. We are fully aware of your excellent work with Women Win and we send regular updates through to Cindy Coleman and WW colleagues - We did apply last year for a Women Win grant but were unfortunaltely unsuccessful ( dont know why !) however lets hope for the future as the more funding we can raise = the more Cambodian Women with a Disability who will be able to join the program and experience the unique positive power of sport and further the development of Cambodian Womens Rights (much needed !)
Hello Christopher, Could you please tell us more about the meaningful employment that you help gain for the disabled women with which you work? How successful are these women at getting employed? What kind of employment are they able to find?
You mention that you are hoping to acquire national media recognition. Do you already have some kind of partnership with the local and/or national media?
I would love to hear more about the income generation activities that you mention. Please tell us more.
Keep up the great work! Best, Dana Frasz
Ashoka's Changemakers
Pleased to hear from you – Good question !! – It’s a case by case basis that we work on plus always subject to what support we can raise however here is how we work in terms of Employment creation.
Usually, we find that our CNVLD women athletes, through participating in the Wheelie program, find a new sense of self esteem and positive pride and gain the inner strength needed to face the broader challenge of finding employment in mainstream Cambodian society
Some of our wheelies have used their annual training and competition subsidies to open up small businesses such as a market stall, dress making shop, hairdresser or selling food - these micro economic initiatives taken by the CNVLD Women athletes are proving to be very successful and is a direct result of the athletes subsidy support and prize monies.
In 2009, in cooperation with CIST, an NGO focused on IT training, the CNVLD will evaluate the literacy level of all CNVLD women athletes in order to determine who may be suitable to undergo IT training as we are very fortunate to have the support of ANZ Royal Bank who are willing to assist in the training of suitable CNVLD Women wheelie athletes to work in ANZ Royal Bank call centres – This is a very positive development of cooperation with the objective being to have the first wheelies employed by an international mainstream bank in Cambodia and they will receive a very good salary at the bank if they successfully complete the training required !
In addition, in 2009, the CNVLD will select 2 suitable women wheelie candidates for focused training as Senior CNVLD Wheelchair racing Coaches (full time employment with the CNVLD) with their task being to mentor new women athletes into the program and to train the future women wheelie coaches
As said, we work very much on an individual case by case basis, as we do face the issues related to a high level of illiteracy and significant poverty within a rural environment however the CNVLD is providing initial employment options and nurturing other potential programs that will lead to the long term mainstream employment of Cambodian women with a disability.
Comments
Dear Christophe
This is an inspiring program you have and dealing with a group that is in extreme need of such support. Congratulations on your efforts to bring to light role models that are usually kept behind the scenes. What percentage out of the total population, the target group compose?
best wishes for you and your courageous team
Abdelfattah Abusrour, Palestine
Dear Aabusrour
Many thanks for the kind comments - greatly appreciated
To your important points:
Unfortunately we have only touched the tip of the iceberg (or palm tree as we say here!) in terms of numbers. Due to the horrendous consequences of over 30 years of civil conflict, the landmine (over 40,000 survivors!) and polio we have a long way to go yet.
Reality is that we could start Women Wheelie clubs overnight in all 23 provinces in Cambodia however we are simply limited by resources (funding) and at this point we are only working with 20+ females noting that each time we receive some funding – we manufacture another racing wheelchair and introduce another Cambodian woman with a disability to the joy of sport.
In addition, Over the years we have faced significant barriers within the INGO / Aid and development world, where we still see to this very day, a failure, to recognise the unique and very powerful ability of sport to foster positive social change – However this attitude, thankfully, is changing and our thanks to the Nike Changemakers initiatives which are assisting to change this mindset as more and more people become aware of the unique power of sport
I do hope that the day comes when we can send a Cambodian team over to Palestine to compete and network with your athletes!
I look forward to staying in contact
with warmest regards from Phnom Penh
Chris
Hi,
This is a powerfull project that i am sure is working wonders. It is exciting to hear about the work you are doing- your website is very helpfull.
Kind regards,
Lombe Mwambwa
Hi Lombe - Many thanks for the kind words - we try our best here in Cambodia and keep an eye on our website for updates as Cambodian Women with a DisABILITY are on the Move and fast becoming the sporting heroes of the nation
Look forward to staying in contact
best from Phnom Penh
Chris
Dear Mr. Minko,
Wow - this is a really amazing endeavor and exciting to see an organization who is using sport to address a disabled population.
There's an organization called the Wheelchair Foundation, http://www.wheelchairfoundation.org/, which donates wheelchairs abroad. I've heard they've had some difficulties exporting these to other countries, because they get stuck in customs. Because you have government support, they might be an interesting partner for you to explore?
I'm also interested in knowing more about how many people are in need of a wheelchair and if you expect that number to increase over time because of the increased visibility of your organization? Do you expect that number to level off at some point because of heightened awareness by the government to address disabled population issues?
Thanks!
Stephani
Nike
Hi Stephanie (and please call me Chris!)
Really appreciate your comments (thanks – It gives us motivation!) and your ideas.
Regarding Wheelchairs – I’ll most definitely follow through with your suggestion as our positive relationship with the government does help when it comes to the customs issues (and I know how hard the customs issues can be!)
Here is how we approach the wheelchair issue at this end
The CNVLD Wheelie project is relatively new (started in ‘07) – Firstly we designed a wheelchair for local manufacture in order to ensure equality amongst the athletes from a sporting perspective (all athletes in the same chairs). These racing wheelchairs are manufactured here in Phnom Penh (and let me say that we are very proud of our local chairs – heavy that they may be!) by students of the Don Bosco Vocational Training Centre for disadvantaged youth. In addition there are excellent day chairs here manufactured by local organisations such as the Jesuit Relief Service and other agencies.
We have also received 3 international standard racing chairs kindly donated by the Canadian National Volleyball Team on their visit here last year and only one week ago did we decide that its time for CNVLD wheelie athletes to hit the international racing circuit starting with a 10 K race at the upcoming Melbourne (Australia) Marathon in October 09.
In terms of numbers, you may have seen in another mail, that we have a long long way to go and are only limited by resources funding) as we could quite literally open up hundreds of wheelchair clubs given the opportunity – Its important to understand that Cambodia (unfortunately) has the highest % of disabled persons per head of population in the world, so an enormous task still lies ahead of us – However we are a very determined team and step by step (or roll by roll), each year, we introduce more Cambodian women with a disABILITY to the joy and power of sport as a means to restore an individuals self esteem and to give that individual hope
Look forward to furthered discussions and from all of us here in Cambodia – Fantastic work by the Nike Changemakers Crew – so “Go Cambodia, Go Changemakers and Go Nike!”
best from Phnom Penh
Chris
Hi Christopher,
Volleyball! My passion. Unfortunatelly I was not tall enought to keep going with real promises. hahahaha
What an incredible initiative and, I have to say, among the few in this competition that are totally focused on WOMEN.
Women Win would love to know more about the progress of this initiative.
Women Win is the first ever international women’s fund that supports sport and physical activities as instruments for social change and women’s empowerment.
Women Win will use the competition to find a fellow between the ages of 15 and 65 years old that positively change the lives of women and girls in their community through sports.
Please go to http://sportforchange.changemakers.com/en-us/group/womenwin and click join this group. We would love to hear your opinion on the topics being discussed.
All the best luck!
Many thanks Renata and very much appreciate the comments - We are exceptionally proud of our Women Wheelie teams ( who are now recognised sporting heroes) with the next step of our development (now underway) being to train 2 of the Wheelies as full time mangers of the program so that the Program is "managed by Cambodian Women with a Disability for Cambodian Women with a Disability. We are fully aware of your excellent work with Women Win and we send regular updates through to Cindy Coleman and WW colleagues - We did apply last year for a Women Win grant but were unfortunaltely unsuccessful ( dont know why !) however lets hope for the future as the more funding we can raise = the more Cambodian Women with a Disability who will be able to join the program and experience the unique positive power of sport and further the development of Cambodian Womens Rights (much needed !)
Look forward to staying in contact
best
Chris
Hello Christopher, Could you please tell us more about the meaningful employment that you help gain for the disabled women with which you work? How successful are these women at getting employed? What kind of employment are they able to find?
You mention that you are hoping to acquire national media recognition. Do you already have some kind of partnership with the local and/or national media?
I would love to hear more about the income generation activities that you mention. Please tell us more.
Keep up the great work! Best, Dana Frasz
Ashoka's Changemakers
Hi Dana
Pleased to hear from you – Good question !! – It’s a case by case basis that we work on plus always subject to what support we can raise however here is how we work in terms of Employment creation.
Usually, we find that our CNVLD women athletes, through participating in the Wheelie program, find a new sense of self esteem and positive pride and gain the inner strength needed to face the broader challenge of finding employment in mainstream Cambodian society
Some of our wheelies have used their annual training and competition subsidies to open up small businesses such as a market stall, dress making shop, hairdresser or selling food - these micro economic initiatives taken by the CNVLD Women athletes are proving to be very successful and is a direct result of the athletes subsidy support and prize monies.
In 2009, in cooperation with CIST, an NGO focused on IT training, the CNVLD will evaluate the literacy level of all CNVLD women athletes in order to determine who may be suitable to undergo IT training as we are very fortunate to have the support of ANZ Royal Bank who are willing to assist in the training of suitable CNVLD Women wheelie athletes to work in ANZ Royal Bank call centres – This is a very positive development of cooperation with the objective being to have the first wheelies employed by an international mainstream bank in Cambodia and they will receive a very good salary at the bank if they successfully complete the training required !
In addition, in 2009, the CNVLD will select 2 suitable women wheelie candidates for focused training as Senior CNVLD Wheelchair racing Coaches (full time employment with the CNVLD) with their task being to mentor new women athletes into the program and to train the future women wheelie coaches
As said, we work very much on an individual case by case basis, as we do face the issues related to a high level of illiteracy and significant poverty within a rural environment however the CNVLD is providing initial employment options and nurturing other potential programs that will lead to the long term mainstream employment of Cambodian women with a disability.
Look forward to staying in contact!
Best from the Penh!
Chris
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