SECTION TWO

Figure 13. Types of disabilities

(Source: Handicap International & the National Centre for Medical Rehabilitation, 1999)

This survey, along with the NCHP report, categorized six sources of disability. These were: Accident, At Birth, Disease/Sickness, Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), War, and Other. The majority of people who had Polio, (395 out of 428), and Paralysis, (323 out of 481), were in the 'Disease/Sickness' category. The majority who had Difficulty in Understanding and Learning, (284 out of 322), or were Deaf, (252 out of 366), were in the 'At Birth' category. 160 of 305 people with amputations were in the 'War' category.

Barriers for persons with disabilities

People with disabilities face considerable physical, social, and attitudinal barriers. These are discussed more fully in Section 4 (pages 35-38) but are summarized here.

Children with disabilities lack mobility aids to reach schools which usually lack the facilities necessary for them. This means that most children do not go to school.

There is a similar lack of vocational training. Many who had the potential for tertiary education could not attend because the training was inaccessible or the rules forbade it, for example stipulating that only people with good health are qualified to study. (Sivila, C., Board of Director, Lao Disabled People's Association, Vientiane Municipality, 2002.)

The situation is even worse for people with leprosy. Often completely excluded from society they may even have to leave their village and live in the forest creating a major burden on family members who then have to organize food and other basic necessities. (Handicap International & the National Centre for Medical Rehabilitation, Bridging the Gap: Survey of Disabled Children & Adults, Lao PDR, 1999.)

Women with disabilities often become the victims of physical and mental abuse, being beaten, raped, confined, or just made to feel guilty. Persons with disabilities, as well as their parents, tend to have very low self-esteem, not daring to share their ideas and problems with others. Parents often feel they cannot send their disabled children to school.

The barriers that people with disabilities face in Lao society are particularly high in remote areas where social awareness is low and help from external organizations is difficult to access. This marginalization reduces their opportunity to contribute to the household or community, and vastly increases their risk of falling into abject poverty. (Elwan, Ann. Poverty and Disability: A survey of the literature, background paper for WDR 2000/2001, 1999, p. v.)

2.5.2 Self-employment and Micro/Small Enterprises among People with Disabilities

The occupations in which persons with disabilities can engage are limited. The NCMR 1999 report set out the main categories and numbers of people in their survey who fell into those categories.

Table 1. Occupations of people with disabilities

(Source: Handicap International & the National Centre for Medical Rehabilitation, 1999)

A disabled person often needs more than one type of job. One commented: "We have different disabilities; we also have different hopes. Some of us can study and some of us can attend vocational training classes. But many disabled persons simply hope for some money. With money, life would be much easier". (Handicap International & National Centre for Medical Rehabilitation, Bridging the Gap: Survey of Disabled Children & Adults, Lao PDR, 1999, p.50.)

It is not common for people with disabilities to establish their own enterprises. Organizations working with disabled persons tend to pay greater attention to physical rehabilitation and basic social services than to income-generating activities. The Lao Disabled People's Association (LDPA) provides skills training in sewing, Lao traditional massage, wood crafting, handicraft and making paper from banana and galanga leaf. The hope is that the trainees will then be able to generate income. Approximately 120 people participated in these courses but most did not have the funds to start businesses. Often the products were not marketable because of lack of quality or because they had the image of being "produced by handicapped people." (Sivila, C., Board of Directors, Lao Disabled People's Association, Vientiane Municipality, 2002.)

In May 2002, the LDPA, with support from the Lao Government and the Association of cooperation for Persons with Disabilities Asia Pacific (ACAP), established the Lao Disabled Women's Development Centre. It provides skills for marginalized disabled women with courses in dress-making, weaving, making stationery products and decorations from banana paper, and computer skills for high school graduates. The courses last a year with a maximum intake of 32. But there are few resource people and the Centre sees that to make the products saleable, it has to concentrate on their quality.

A Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) project in Salavan Province run by World Concern with the NCMR assists persons with disabilities in generating their own income. Project activities are mainly agriculture-related such as animal husbandry and vegetable growing. The target groups receive loans, technical assistance, and some physical support from family members who have no physical disabilities. An official from the project reported satisfactory achievement. (Phonelamoung, V, Project Coordinator, Community-Based Rehabilitation Project, Salavan, 2002.)

For as long as micro/small enterprise development remains a secondary focus for assistance projects, they will lack adequate resources and will create unfulfilled expectations. An official of the CBR project in Salavan stated: "We also hope in future to see the income generation activities of our target groups grow in the form of enterprises." (ibid.)

There are of course many examples of entrepreneurs with disabilities who operate successful micro/small enterprises. 10 per cent of the total membership of the LHPA (400) own their own businesses and a number of these have potential for growth, as the following case studies illustrate. However despite these success stories, the capabilities of persons with disabilities are for the most part greatly under-utilized.

Case Study of Mr Xenchan Kopya

Mr Xenchao contracted polio when he was 5 years old. He is now in his 40s. In 1998 he started to learn woodcraft with the Lao Handicapped Persons Association. In 2001, he and his friend who is also disabled started to sell their woodcraft products. He can now earn up to 100,000 Kip per month. Even though it is only a small amount of money he can live on this without burdening his family. He dreams of having a proper shop to replace his small stall and of expanding his business. He thinks that disabled persons should work together to make dreams of having their own enterprises a reality.

Case Study of Ms. Chanhpheng Sivila

Ms. Chanhpheng is a mobility impaired woman aged about 40, who was invited in 1997 by the Association of Cooperation for Persons with Disabilities Asia-Pacific (ACAP) to visit Japan. She was surprised to see there what disabled people could produce in areas such as bakery, ceramics, garments, and handicrafts. After her return from Japan she opened a business making clothes, bags and items such as postcards, envelopes, and name cards made from banana tree paper. She had learnt dress making when she was young and in Japan she learned about making paper from banana trees. Using an ordinary fruit blender Ms. Chanpheng found she could make banana tree paper of the same quality as her Japanese friends did. She expanded her production as the raw material was locally available, the technology was simple and the financial requirements were reasonable.

Her aim is to help other disabled people. She strongly believes that "the only way to help disabled persons to be self-reliant is to give them a skill. Without a skill, they will be left behind or considered a shame for the family and a burden for society". In 5 years the business has expanded from 2 to 10 sewing machines and from 5 to 12 workers. Her investment has increased from 10 to 30 million Kip. She had planned further expansion but the Government does not provide taxation or credit assistance for entrepreneurs with disabilities. She said disabled people were not well enough organized to be listened to by the Government. Ms. Chanpheng has had the usual range of problems: high inventory levels, lack of working capital, inadequate marketing and poor quality control but she has overcome these to become successful. She sees this as an investment also in the skills of other disabled women. Some of her senior workers for example now teach dress-making while others have their own shops.

By mid 2002, Ms. Chanhpheng had ceased her own business in order to become Director of the Lao Disabled Women Development Center (LDWDC). In this way she hopes to give more opportunities to Lao disabled women to learn new skills, and to prove to society that they can be just as useful as able-bodied persons.

2.5 Entrepreneurs with Disabilities
Study on Generating Employment through Micro and Small Enterprise and Cooperative Development in Lao PDR