THE Brunei Council on Social Welfare (MKM) sent three volunteers to join the 2016 E-Commerce Training Course for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) under the China-Asean and APEC Framework in Nanning City, Guangxi, China from September 22-27, 2016.
Some 50 participants attended the training programme that was fully funded by the Government of China and organised by China Disabled Persons Federation. The volunteers who attended were Siti Mariana binti Haji Makhbar, Dayangku Hanisah binti Pengiran Haji Bakar and Sharifah Adila Surya binti Malai Haji Abdullah, according to a press release issued by MKM.
The programme aimed to promote employment and productivity of PWDs and improve their quality of life and inclusive development in the Asia-Pacific region through participation in the Internet economy via e-Commerce.
Dayangku Hanisah who is also a child psychologist for children with special needs at International School Brunei said, “The knowledge we learned on e-Commerce was something we can potentially do in Brunei for PWDs. The course will help advance the cooperation among private sector, the government agencies and NGOs on employment of PWD.
“We can do a targeted training for them to provide customer service, sales network service and voice files record translation for companies.
“Our field trip to Guangxi Assistive Devices Center and Guangxi Disabled Persons training center was impressive as we saw PWDs work in various department like pastry making, sewing, ironing, music and dance where they are not discriminated.
“There were no limits on what they can do as long as proper training and logistics were provided,” she added.
Siti Mariana shared, “I believe our PWDs in Brunei can be trained how to use the social media to sell their handmade products.
Left to right: Sharifah Adila Surya Malai binti Haji Abdullah, Dayangku Hanisah binti Pengiran Haji Bakar and Siti Marian binti Haji Makhbar.
“More support is needed to get them to start their business and in MKM we have a programme on cottage industries and we will ensure that we include the PWD to make our programme more inclusive and without discrimination,” she said.
In addition, the training course has given Sharifah Adila a better perspective on how she can improve the programme of Society for the Management of Autism Related issues in Training, Education and Resources (SMARTER) Brunei where she works as one of the officers and focus on the employability aspect of children with special needs once they become adults.
“Although we label a person as disabled, through proper care and provision of facilities and opening opportunities for them, they too can fully participate with the community and become an interdependent productive member of the society,” said Sharifah Adila.
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