Employment for people with disabilities in Central America

Author : Martin Mendoza / Program Officer; Silvia Bastante / Program Associate
Date added : 2001-04-16

Brief Project Background

According to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, 1999) approximately five million Central Americans are disabled. Half are of working age, but most can’t find jobs. They are the poorest of the poor. Responding to this great need, in 2000, The Trust for the Americas developed a project targeted to combat poverty by using information and communication technologies (ICT) training to reduce the obstacles to employment faced by people with disabilities in the Americas. The project “ICT: Employment for People with Disabilites” followed a successful experience of the Trust sending ICT volunteers to train small hotels in the Caribbean in the use of ICTs. As in the previous experience, a model working with volunteers was considered as the most cost-effective tool to promote the use of ICT, training local organizations and their members. In 2000, this project was awarded with two prizes, one from the infoDev and the other from Development Marketplace at the World Bank. With these seed funds and counterpart resources from the Trust, the current project was started in May 2000 in four Central American countries.

Project description
The project objective is to utilize ICT training to reduce the obstacles to employment faced by people with disabilities in the Americas. To this end, this project uses a very innovative approach to work with volunteers in the promotion of new technologies, including adaptive technologies for people with disabilities (i.e. software for blind people, etc.). The project also works directly with local organizations responding to their requests, tailoring the training provided by volunteers to their very specific needs.

The volunteers who participate in this project have different backgrounds; however, their knowledge of ICT is a common denominator. The project is open to volunteers from any country interested in spending few months training local groups. The profile of our volunteers varies, ranging in age from young people to retirees. Their skills also vary, from students to highly qualified professionals with extensive experience using technologies for educational purposes, including university professors. In terms of gender, half of our volunteers are women. Currently, this project is being implemented in four countries in Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua). The spectrum of organizations participating from the project is large, but the common factor is that they all serve people with disabilities.

The concept of volunteer ICT training is being applied in small cooperatives run by people with disabilities, as well as in government bodies, responsible for the promotion and implementation of national legislation related to disabilities. Evidently, each organization uses ICT in a different way but they all benefit from the training provided within their own scope.

The volunteers travel with a double purpose.
The first is to train people with disabilities in the use of computers. This includes software and hardware, adaptive technologies for specific disabilities and work-related information technology skills as means to gain better remunerated employment.
The second is to enhance an already existing network of groups for people with disabilities using the Internet to connect them within countries, regions, and internationally.
In addition, the training provided by the volunteers allows local organizations increased access to information and funding sources. This also affords groups the possibility to exchange experiences regarding education, legislation, and other issues related to disabilities.

The volunteer model has proven to be an effective tool to promote development through ICT. For this reason, the same model is being utilized for new projects developed by the Trust, such as ICT for Women, ICT for Street Children and to complement programs of formal education through the training of trainers. In addition to the direct training, the Trust developed an Internet Portal, the Virtual Disability Resource Center (VDRC), to link organizations working on disabilities in the Americas. The innovative component of this portal is that besides traditional tools of databases, library resources and others, it also provides space for organizations to adapt local content. The volunteers also play a key role in the promotion of this web site.

Results

Project results
So far, the project has exceeded the original expectations. To date, more than 150 people, half of them with some disability, have been trained in ICT by ten volunteers in nine organizations. Although interesting, this quantitative data does not reflect the real impact that technology brings to people with disabilities. We have also observed that for people with disabilities, the use of new technologies goes beyond the “utilitarian” tool and provides them with a unique opportunity to overcome all sorts of physical and cultural barriers.

Additionally, we have observed several positive outcomes of the project in disabilities organizations. Several groups have discovered how effective the Internet can be as a research tool. For example, a small organization in Nicaragua visited the web page of the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and learned that there was no need to do further research in a very specific topic because there were already several studies that could be used as models.

Another example of the project’s success is that organizations “umbrella”, working to link and represent several smaller groups, can provide a more effective service to their members through the use of new technologies. This clearly supports these organizations’ role as advocates for people with disabilities.

Another interesting component of the work with volunteers is that they work directly with their “host organizations”. Volunteers contact their organizations a few weeks before their trip, so that by the time they arrive, they have already developed very clear and consistent work plans. This contact also develops affective ties between volunteer and host organization, so the volunteers’ work is more appreciated and recognized once they start working together. For the host organization, it is an asset to have an ICT-savvy professional working full time with them and just not a mere sporadic training. This direct work really helps them to build their own capacities.

Lessons

Lessons learned
It is perhaps ironic that one of the biggest successes and challenges of this project is working with volunteers. Certain aspects of working with volunteers must be considered, particularly if ICTs are being promoted. These aspects include the recruitment strategy (for both local volunteers and organizations), the training and deployment of volunteers, and the monitoring of activities in the field.

In the recruitment of volunteers, the first step is to identify potential sources of ICT volunteers. This was done through the creation of formal and informal agreements with academic institutions (universities and training institutes), and with organizations that promote voluntarism. In addition, it is very important to observe that potential candidates not only possess ICT skills, but also the capacity to adapt in a new and challenging environment. The recruitment of local organizations begins with identifying groups that are ready to use ICTs effectively and can incorporate them in their daily duties. The availability of equipment must also be considered especially where adaptive technologies for people with disabilities require state of the art software and hardware. Based on our experience, there are several potential international and local organizations willing to donate equipment for programs such as ours.

The training of volunteers is another key part of the project. During the training, volunteers receive general information regarding their assignment and their health and safety. However, the most important part of the training is the direct work between project managers and volunteers before their deployment to the field. The purpose of this contact is to clearly define the product expected from their work in the field. In particular, the goal of the training is to communicate to volunteers their role as promoters of ICTs and the potential impact of their work for local organizations and ultimate beneficiaries.

The final and ongoing component of the work with volunteers is the local implementation and monitoring of activities. Based on our experience, the training in-situ requires a third local party supporting the work of volunteers and the field. Coordinators on the country level in Central America improve the quality of the training delivered by the volunteers through their support for the adaptation of work plans to local conditions. It is evident that the concept of volunteerism is still maturing in Latin America. However, the volunteer model tested in this project has proven to be a unique and effective approach to foster development through the use of ICTs. This model has exposed the need to raise awareness in local organizations and communities and more than justifies the investment of sending international qualified professionals as volunteers.

Development Impacts

Development aspects
The use of ICT in our project has very positively affected the lives of people with disabilities. Now, blind persons can access potentially life-changing information on the Internet independently. This is possible only through technology. Opportunities for people with disabilities to gain better-remunerated employment are also possible thanks to technology. For example, in El Salvador, where approximately 98% of the people with disabilities are unemployed, technology is opening great economic opportunities for them. Technologies make equality possible, at least in terms of opportunities.

Currently, many of the organizations that have participated in our project are using their recently acquired knowledge to develop their own training programs and have dramatically improved their managerial capacity. This demonstrates not only the interest of people and their organizations to learn the use of ICTs, but also their desire to bring continuity to this project, guaranteeing its sustainability.

We are also in the process of developing new projects to adapt this successful model into larger strategies for development through the use of ICTs. We recognize, however, that although we have made great strides in the promotion of technology for people with disabilities, there are still barriers to overcome. As such, we are committed to continue working in this endeavor, changing people’s lives one click at a time.

Project Information

Organisation : The Trust for the Americas / OAS
URL : http://www.netdisabilities.org
Total budget in US$ : $297,000

Are there any partners involved : yes
What is partners role?: Direct support to in the implementation of the project at international and local levels.

Contact Information

Martin Mendoza / Program Officer; Silvia Bastante / Program Associate
mmendoza@oas.org

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