“It started with an idea to raise awareness on PWDs and so far, seeing the engagement of the residents made us realize na kahit sa simpleng pamamaraan ng posting, nagkakaroon ng awareness ang mga nasa LNC,” community mobilizer James Diaz said in an interview.
According to him, the campaign was created immediately before the IDPD, also intending to break the stigma on disabilities as one community and staying true to one of GalingLNC’s taglines, “Makiisa dahil tayo ay Iisa.”
He also shared that the groups that were part of the joint effort for the BIDA program were the LNC Persons with Disabilities Group and the PWD Federation in Brgy. Navarro wherein out of its total 325 PWD members, 150-160 are residing in LNC.
“The Persons with Disabilities Group was founded and initiated by residents who are PWDs, they share sentiments to support each other and feel their inclusivity in LNC, something they look forward to dahil sa ngayon, not everyone still has the capacity to understand them. While the PWD Federation naman, one of its PWD coordinators is an LNC homeowner, a parent of a PWD,” Diaz said.
Moreover, aside from the initiatives to raise awareness to the community, GalingLNC is also planning to create more programs in the future that will continue to engage residents not only on disability awareness, but also on ways to embrace PWDs.
“We aim na hindi lang ito matatapos sa one time-big time event which is the IDPD, that’s why the team is currently developing a plan na kumbaga, hindi lang sa day na ‘yon maa-appreciate ang PWDs,” he added.
Meanwhile, 16 per 1,000 of the country’s population has a disability which means that out of the 92.1 million household population, 1.44 million persons have a disability.
In the 2018 press release by the Department of Health, Calabarzon has the highest number of PWDs with 193,000 out of the other regions in the Philippines.
Galing LNC emphasizes the use of non-discriminatory language in conversing with PWDs to avoid misunderstandings. Also, the community organization advises PWDs and parents or relatives of PWDs to become a member of Navarro PWD Federation through the following Lancaster PWD coordinators:
