1. Working with Disabled People’s Organisations in Molo
Paul Lindoewood
Coordinator –
Disability in Wales and Africa

2. Background and Introduction
Brecon, in central Wales, has been Linked with Molo - town and sub-county in Kenya - since 2007
Disability has been part of the Brecon Molo Link from the start
Activities have tended to focus on developing services, such as:
Exchange of service providers, particularly health
Developing low-tech equipment, e.g. Appropriate Paper-based Technology (APT)
However, lacked the involvement of disabled people as equal partners

3. Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs)
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), along with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), promote a rights-based approach to disability and the mainstream inclusion of disabled people within development
Community development, for disabled people, is more than just providing localised services
DPOs
are a means of self-advocacy and mutual support
are often well placed to access their local disabled communities, understand their needs, and mobilise disabled people
may be small and have low capacity but, with support, can be effective in achieving social change

4. Empowering the Disabled Community
April the idea of a Disabled Community Trainer initiative was discussed and agreed with a range of people in Molo
February 2017 – 2 disabled people from Brecon travelled to Molo and joined with a Kenyan disability trainer from a different area
Ran Disability Community Trainers course in conjunction with Molo Red Cross
Course designed to train grass roots activists to cascade information throughout Molo’s DPOs

5. Disabled Community Trainers - Aims
To start a process of empowering disabled people to advocate for their self-defined needs, through a DPO structure
To recruit participants connected with Molo DPOs
To empower a small group of disabled people to talk about disability issues in their communities
To provide a mechanism through which disabled people from Brecon and Molo could start working together.

6. What the participants brought to the Training
Eagerness to support other members of their DPOs, e.g. one member came with a list of children who needed equipment and support
A very strong focus on how to generate income, both for individuals and their DPOs
Some understanding of what services and support were available but lack of confidence to challenge
A very localised, and disconnected, perspective

7. How the training was implemented
Used a non-directive approach
Worked alongside a disabled Kenyan facilitator who had many years experience of being a member of, and of working with, DPOs
Swahili main language, using interpreters (appropriate language important, when working at grass roots level)
Participants encouraged to explore what they saw as the key issues – these were different from our expectations
Agenda altered as we learned what participants’ priorities were

8. Outcomes and Achievements
Gave people freedom to talk about their experience of being disabled
People discussed barriers they had to gaining effective services and how to overcome them
Participants came together to form a group to support each other
Participants undertook to share their learning with their local disabled communities

9. Reflections To Date
Molo Red Cross recruited the initial group of Disability Community Trainers - in future we need to liaise with DPOs directly
Need to be ready to change the planned agenda to that of the group – e.g. civil rights to income generation
To be effective, any work needs to be done alongside south to south connections
How much did it help that all the trainers were themselves disabled?
How important is it to foster solidarity between disabled people both ‘South to South’ and ‘South to North’?