PhilCOCHED

 

A: PhilCOCHED stands for the Philippine Council of Cheshire Homes for the Disabled, a national disability and development organisation operating in Cubao, Quezon City. It is a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organisation that promotes and protects the welfare of persons with disabilities in the Philippines towards the attainment of economic independence and their active participation in social, cultural, political and civil life.

A: PhilCOCHED’s main aim is to ensure that persons with disabilities (PWDs) are able to exercise their full potential and become valuable contributors within society. Through the partnership and collaboration with 35 affiliated homes and services in the country, PhilCOCHED interventions cover as many different aspects of a disabled person’s life in order to ensure this happens including early rehabilitation interventions, inclusive education programs for primary school children, advocacy activities for youth aged 15-30, training for young college graduates, increased access to job opportunities for PWDs of all ages, support for every day living of persons with disabilities in residence of the Cheshire services, amongst other development and advocacy activities.

A: The core programmes undertaken by PhilCOCHED are Inclusive Education; Economic Empowerment; Support for Everyday Living; Advocacy and Campaigns and projects including Young Voices, the Inclusive Youth Centre, Inclusive Community Action – Rehabilitation for Education (ICARE) and the Cheshire International Internship Programme (CHIIPS). More information about individual programmes may be accessed here.

A: The late Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC founded the Leonard Cheshire Foundation (now known as Leonard Cheshire Disability) in 1948 with the first Cheshire Home in the UK. The Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD) international programme was established over 50 years ago in India and slowly expanded to include six regional offices and 250 disability and development organisations, operating in 55 countries around the world. PhilCOCHED was formally established in 1970 at the suggestion of Captain Leonard Cheshire and continues to have strong links with LCD in the UK and worldwide.  A large proportion of PhilCOCHED’s core funding comes from LCD UK, and technical assistance is provided to both programmatic and operational activities particularly through the support of the East-Asia and Pacific regional LCD office in Bangkok, Thailand. Through membership of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance, PhilCOCHED is able to share knowledge and experience of disability related activities with these 250 like-minded organisations and individuals, creating a louder voice to change attitudes to disability all around the world.

A: As well as our 35 affiliate Homes and Services in the Philippines (of which 14 are Cheshire Homes), PhilCOCHED also has strong links with Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD) in the UK, in the East Asia and Pacific region and it is a member of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance made up of 250 projects in more than 50 countries worldwide. In addition PhilCOCHED partners with national government agencies, local Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs), multinationals, local Barangay units and other national and international NGOs in order to undertake its’ work effectively, ensure sustainability of programs and to complement work where additional inputs are beneficial or in which PhilCOCHED needs specific expertise or assistance. A selection of these partners include, but are not limited to government agencies such as the Department of Education Bureau of Elementary Education, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, the National Council on Disability Affairs, and the National Anti-Poverty Commission. PhilCOCHED has also forged links with Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs) such as the Alyansa ng May Kapansanang Pinoy (AKAP-PINOY) and Bigay Buhay Multipurpose Cooperative and with national NGO partners such as Katipunan ng mga may Kapansanan sa Pilipinas (KAMPI), Resources for the Blind, Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, the Autism Society of the Philippines, NOVA Foundation, Angels of Peace Academy Foundation, Denvic Founation, Philippine Rehabilitation for the Disabled and the Philippine Band of Mercy. In addition we are currently partnering with the World Bank and World Bank Knowledge Development Centers (KDCs) on the implementation of our Inclusive Education interventions.

A: PhilCOCHED’s beneficiaries are principally the residents of the 35 affiliate homes and services throughout the Philippines. In principle disabled children, youth and adults and their families and communities, are the direct beneficiaries of PhilCOCHED’s educational, training and livelihood programmes. However indirect beneficiaries of PhilCOCHED’s programmes also include teachers, who are provided with disability training interventions, community volunteers who receive training and guidance on basic rehabilitation techniques and local government officials for disability advocacy and policy advice and technical assistance.

Q: What is disability?

A: This is a much discussed topic and answers to the question vary depending on which part of the world you come from due to social and cultural attitudes to disability. On their website, the UN uses the term persons with disability “to apply to all persons with disabilities including those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various attitudinal and environmental barriers, hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”[1]  In the recent census of 2000, the Philippine National Office of Statistics referred to disability as “any restriction or lack of ability (resulting from impairment) to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being. Impairments associated with disabilities may be physical, mental or sensory motor impairment such as partial or total blindness and deafness, muteness, speech defect, orthopedic handicaps, and mental retardation."[2] In most societies disability unfortunately carries a negative image, such as the definition given by the office of national statistics, however most recent international definitions of disability focus more on seeing disability as a result of society not being able to accommodate to the person with the disability as opposed to the problem residing in the person with the disability him or herself. This is also reflected in the fact that in the past disability was viewed in medical terms, whereby the person’s disability is seen as a condition requiring medical support, care and attention. However the more recent move to view disability as a socially created phenomena, which PhilCOCHED also advocates gives more rights to the person with disability enabling them to make choices of their own and to be treated equally to all other members of that society.