Let me take you back to June 28...
On that morning, I I visited the Village Work Center - a projective workshop operated by the Western Cape Cerebral Palsy Association. Protective workshops (PWs) are places for people with disabilities to go work. This work is not part of the open labour market as people situated in PWs are not employed by operating companies; however, many PWs have contracts with companies to produce their products. This i learned was For instance, the Village has a contract to sew and package comforters. These types of contracts are one of the ways such an establishment stays open. Important to note is that this is a fairly new development. In the past, many PWs simply served as a place for people with disabilities to go and do something. . In addition, increasingly, a goal of PWs is to help people with disabilities gain skills so that they can get jobs in the open labour market. People at PWs may go on to get jobs at a grocery or even a factory.
Going to the Village Workshop provided a great break from my interview heavy scheule. Something that I felt lacking from my time in Cape Town had been interaction with people with disabilities that were not working disability sector. I had been struggling because the people that I had been talking about were not the people i had been talking with. They were and continue to be for the most the part, the operators of organizations that assist people with disabilities. Yes, i had spoken to someone that was blind, with cerebral palsy, and in a wheelchair, but they were in a sense an exception to the rule in terms of the status of people with disabilities in the Western Cape. Its not that i haven't enoyed or been inspired by the people i talked with, but it was just getting to be a bit repetitive. Going to the the Village was a great change of pace.
At Village, I was able to speak and meet with people with a variety of abilities. This is represented by the variety of activities facilitated at the Village. There was a place where bath toys were being packaged, a sewing room (mostly occupied by girls) where some people were making complex patters while others simply did straight stitching, and a wood shop. I really enjoyed speaking with some of the workers, especially those who were excited about the work that they were doing. For instance, there was one man who had been there for 26 years. He was so happy to show me around the wood shop where he had duties that no one else was permitted to perform.
I am so happy that I went to the Village Work Center. It gave me the opportunity to see a service that I had heard so much about (as Protective Workshops were mentioned to me in almost every meetings) and to develop a more personal connection to the cause that I have been researching.
On that Friday, I met with Vincent Daniels - an energetic leader in the disability sector. He works for the Cape Town Society of the Blind. He is blind himself and works on awareness. In addition, he serves at the Chair of the Western Cape Network on Disability. The is a consortium of 60 - 80 (I forget) disability NPOs in the Western Cape. We did not finish our conversation, as waiting for us downstairs was Hillary Lane (who I wrote about in my last post and is the deputy chair of the Network). She drove us to the opening of a new center to teach people with disabilities computer skills. It was a project of the organization supporting people with quadriplegia. There were an excess of disability advocates at the event so I had a blast networking!
I have started and will complete a post about my work with Nicky's Drive, which started July 2, tomorrow or within the next few days! Let's just say its been fun, full of learning and produced some great ideas.
- Feldman
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