Workshop with kids from MINDS - cited from Youth.SG blog

Via Youth.Sg — on a workshop they did with kids from MINDS:

Seeing the kids trying out both the simple steps that we taught them and the ones that the traditional Malay dance group did was absolutely heart-warming. It was almost as if they were discovering a w hole new world for themselves through dance, where they weren’t limited by what ever people say they were limited by.

MINDS = Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore. Their website is at: www.minds.org.sg

Technorati Tag: intellectual disability

AWWA launches new programmes to give support to the disabled

This was from the Channelnewsasia.com article (18 Jul 2006), reporting on the official opening of the Asian Women’s Welfare Association (AWWA) new premises at Lorong Napiri in Yio Chu Kang:

Some new programmes were also launched to provide more support for the disabled.

A group of youths with special needs is among the 40 students who will benefit from AWWA’s before and after school care centre.

The centre is the only one of its kind catering to children with multiple disabilities, be they physical or intellectual. It is one of the programmes being launched, together with the opening of its new $14.7 million home, by President S R Nathan.

“For the caregivers centre, it’s because we realise that in Singapore, we need a lot of support for caregivers. One of the things we’ve done is that we have a special support group for parents whose children are on a very long national waiting list for early intervention for their children with special needs. We give them intervention and training techniques as to how to support their kids at home,” said Anita Fam, board member of AWWA.

Physically disabled youths will also be given the opportunity to set up their own niche businesses at the AWWA Business Access Centre.

They will be given training in the fields of real estate, banking & finance, as well as computer systems. They are also given internships to help them learn the ropes and eventually start their own businesses.

“I’m a freelance web designer. Right now, Business Access outsources jobs to me. In the future, I hope I can set up a web designing company,” said Eric Loo.

A Regional Resource Centre on disabilities will also open here next year.

Source: CNA, Singapore News -
www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/219918/1/.html

Technorati Tags: awwa, awwa singapore, singapore, asian women’s welfare association

If you want to make a donation to the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH)

The subject of making donations to organisations serving the disabled came up during a brief email discussion with 2 of my colleagues. I was asking if Singapore School for the Deaf (SSD) accepted donations in cash or kind. Then my colleagued mentioned about the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH).

I told her I’d post the information she shared in sgLEAD, so here it is:

This page is from SAVH on ways to donate to SAVH. For those who wish donate specifically for their library, pls specify your cheque to “library services”. From the ‘Donations‘ page:

New Library Services
The library loans out braille and audio books/reference materials/magazines, descriptive videos, and music CD. The fund is used to purchase / produce more materials, to give our clients more up to date information and more reading choices.

My colleague added that because SAVH had to give up their IPC status (due to recent events), it means SAVH (at this time of posting) cannot collect tax-exempt donations — which means anyone choosing to donate to SAVH would not be able to obtain tax exemptions during the annual income tax declaration exercise. My colleague also adds that the SAVH library is, in her opinion, in a poor state of affairs. While donations might not change the situation immediately, a little bit might help, especially if one just donates out of the kindness of giving.

Technorati Tags: savh, library disability services, donations