Dagupan City – The DSWD Field Office 1 (DSWD FO 1) through the Area I Vocational Rehabilitation Center (AVRC I) partnered with the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) to train 46 persons with disabilities (PWDs) from all over Region 1 on Appropriate Paper-based Technology (APT), a cost-effective way to produce creative and personally designed furniture or other objects using waste papers.
The participants, who will become trainers in their respective local government units, only used corn starch as a paste to patch waste papers into beautiful artworks and applied varnish or waterproof paint to seal the completed pieces such as but not limited to chairs, wall crafts, display items, and other useful products. Aside from APT, NCDA also imparted the technology on paper crafting and quilling to the participants to produce colorful earrings. The Council pledged to help in marketing the products to known suppliers particularly in Carmona, Cavite.
According to Dandy Victa, NCDA’s Technical Cooperation Division Chief, the Council has piloted the APT project to provide appropriate trainings and skills enhancement to PWDs to improve their creativity leading to environment-friendly livelihood options. The initiative that complements the Duterte administration’s socio-economic agenda in investing in human capital development to meet the demand of businesses and private sectors further focuses on waste reuse and recycling to counteract wastage and depletion of natural resources, thereby supporting the climate change adaptation and mitigation projects of the government. “Dahil sa APT training, nadagdagan ang aking kaalaman sa paggawa ng magagandang produkto. Ang aking gustong gawin ay lampshades dahil mahilig ako sa mga produktong pang-display. Iro-roll-out ko ang mga natutunan ko sa kagaya kong PWDs pagbalik ko sa Urdaneta City (This APT training improved my knowledge in crafting beautiful products. I want to make lampshades because I am fond of display products. I will roll-out what I have learned to my co-PWDs when I get back to Urdaneta City),” shared Rosemarie dela Cruz, Treasurer of Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office (PDAO) in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan.
In 1977, APT techniques were developed in Zimbabwe by Bevill Packer to make furniture, toys, and household items as well as some equipment for PWDs. # By: Darwin T. Chan, Social Marketing Unit
