Give Employable Skills to Adults with Disabilities

Dear Supporters,

Happy new year to all!

We are looking forward to a brand new year with improved prospects persons with disabilities to empower them to become a part of an inclusive society. We are humbled by your constant support and encouragement to help persons with disabilities achieve their dreams, enhance their potential and strive towards a brighter future.

For the year ahead, we have expanded our outreach to including different trades and disabilities, as well as moving beyond Karachi.

Plumbing:
After our successful training batches with Hunar Foundation for the year-long training in Plumbing, NOWPDP partnered with Hunar to provide a shorter but thorough six month training process in the Plumbing trade. Currently, we are selecting candidates interested in the trade and will soon begin

Spa and Beautician:
Training in the Basic Spa Course began with a total of 10 women with hearing-speech impairment. All of these women belonging to a low-income background coupled with their disability had little opportunities of polishing their skills and promoting their talents. However, they were thrilled to find out about this opportunity and are working hard to see their dreams come true at the end of this training.

One trainee with a mild physical impairment is also receiving a specialized training course for Hair Treatment and Hairstyles at an internationally renowned training academy. She hopes to gain experience through her training and wants to establish her own parlour near her vicinity.

Auto Body and Paint:
Our first round of the six month training program is complete. Currently, 4 of our students have managed to secure a placement at vehicle companies to practice their learned skills. With our successful pilot, Project Shahpar will continue with its second round of training for Auto Body and Paint for persons with hearing-speech impairment.

House-keeping:
Venturing in to more trades, training in the skills for house-keeping which includes skills for laundry and room service. The training was modelled to cater to persons with hearing-speech impairment for a six month course. A batch of 10 students in enrolled in the training and are currently receiving practical training in the trade.

Moving beyond Karachi, the same training is being offered to persons with hearing speech impairment in Lahore. We are hoping to kick start this batch in the start of the year. 

In House Training:
We also started training in various trades at our workplace which is accessible for all persons with disabilities. The aim of beginning training in-house was to provide opportunities to persons with different disabilities in an accessible and welcoming environment, as well as creating a working example for opening different trades to persons with disabilities.

We upgraded our training for textile designing to cater to adults interested to follow through in the trade. The training module for three months was designed with the input of industry professionals and trainers, and will equip the trainees with basic knowledge in the skills. Call centre training was introduced for persons with visual impairment to open avenues for them in professional world, preparing the trainees to use computers with screen reader softwares like JAWS as well as training in the specific skills required call centre.

We also kick-started a training for persons with physical impairment and hearing-speech impairment in learning Basic Microsoft Office software to enhance their clerical skills.

Way Forward:
We look forward to further adding to our selection of trade skills as well as continuing further to provide training in locations beyond Karachi. We are also aiming to begin work-readiness training for persons with disabilities to prepare them for the professional world. We hope that with your encouragement helps us to make this society inclusive of persons with disabilities.