Around eight million people in Vietnam are living with a disability. Of those, less than 20% have fulfilled their right to a quality education. Drawing on his own experiences of having a disability, VSO volunteer Richard O’Brien is working alongside colleagues at Inclusive Development Action (IDEA) to empower others with disabilities to get their voices heard.
What being a disability advocacy volunteer means
As a VSO volunteer who works in the field of disability advocacy, many people ask me, “So what exactly is it that you do?” To put it simply, my colleagues and I at IDEA try to represent the interests and views of people with disabilities to officials, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), newspapers and employers.
We highlight a range of issues from education to health and access to employment. These issues are covered in a monthly update, which is distributed nationally by post and email. About 100 disability groups subscribe to the update, and around 1000 disabled people have access to it.
As well as a job placement service, we also run various courses on topics ranging from managing self help groups to HIV awareness for the deaf. Most of my time is spent representing the organisation at various events, meetings and committees, or making written contributions to reports and plans. Yet despite all this activity, IDEA has just six members of staff, and three local volunteers.
Sustainable working
It’s important for my colleagues to develop their advocacy skills as well. Sustainability means that the relationships that are built up must continue after the placement finishes, so when we meet key influencers we try to bring along other people with disabilities as well.
Our style of advocacy is different to the way it’s carried out in the west. Finger wagging at officialdom is generally perceived as not being productive. We report good practice, both from outside and inside the country. We try to develop contacts in various government offices who are supportive. We also encourage other donors and NGOs to join us in including disability issues as part of their country programmes.
The impact
Some of our achievements are big, with national significance; others are smaller, but very important for those involved. For example, we recently worked with the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation and the Ministry of Transport on their Saigon and Hanoi underground designs, a multimillion-dollar construction project, holding two seminars with officials, planners and civil servants, as well as representatives from the disability community. We also persuaded an embassy to hire a disabled person as a data entry clerk, and got a school to install a ramp so that a student could go to study there.
As a VSO volunteer, I’ve been able to use my skills to make an impact. Fluency in English means I do most of the English written work, speeches and presentations. My contacts with British and European donors compliment IDEA’s relationships with the American donors that were developed previously. Certainly now, IDEA has a wider range of relationships, more contacts and a higher profile than when I started. How much is down to me, I don’t know, but I am glad to have shared in the experience of growing a Vietnamese NGO.
The personal benefits
As is usual with VSO volunteers, I’ve personally benefited from this placement. I have developed skills I didn’t know I had, such as writing Vietnamese style press releases, and being able to say “no” in a creative positive way. Advocacy is about people, and letting them speak for themselves, and I hope that I have in some way helped disabled people in Vietnam do just that.
Impact
- IDEA’s monthly update reaches 1000 disabled people
- Fluency in English means Richard has increased the number of IDEA’s relationships with British and European donors
- Richard has learnt to say ‘no’ positively and creatively
