Catalog

Disabled Can Help Others
ADB Review [ January - February 2004 ]

An innovative project is using the experiences of skilled people with disabilities to train other needy people in job skills

By Bayasgalan Bavuusuren and Darius Teter (bbayasgalan@adb.org and dteter@adb.org )
Social Sector Officer; and Senior Country Programs Specialist
Mongolia Resident Mission

Six years ago, Luvsan Otgondulam, 39, and her husband Lhamjav Battulga, 40, were living on the streets of Darkhan City. She suffers from a congenital bone defect that reduces her mobility, and Mr. Battulga was disabled in a work-related accident.

INSPIRATIONAL (left to right) Project beneficiaries Luvsan Battulga and Lhamjav Otgondulam describe their small business initiative to ADB Executive Director Rolf Eckermann and Alternative Director Batir Mirbabayev

After acquiring a tiny plot of land in a depressed ger (traditional Mongolian house) area on the outskirts of town, they decided to build a small wooden house and cold vegetable storage facility using scrap materials, capitalizing on Mr. Bat- tulga’s experience working for an agricultural cooperative.

Their hard work paid off.

Today they run the only cold storage in the neighborhood where people can keep vegetables harvested from their own small plots through the harsh Mongolian winter. They have slowly expanded their business to include preparing and pickling vegetables. They are now able to support themselves and their children.

ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) project on employment opportunities for poor people with disabilities is providing modest financial support to Ms. Otgondulam to purchase tools, such as a scale and construction materials to expand their business. She estimates that they will need to double the capacity of their cold storage to earn enough profit to build a proper home.

Many women with disabilities have been asking Ms. Otgondulam to teach them some of her skills in vegetable pickling and running a small business because there are no training programs available to them. The JFPR project will make use of people like Ms. Otgondulam to train other needy people in job skills and business development to support their families.

The JFPR project started in 2002 to help support people with disabilities by upgrading their skills, providing incentives to employers to hire them, supporting them with business development services, and raising public awareness of their productive abilities.

The project is being implemented in Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan, Erdenet, and three other provinces. The project will directly benefit an estimated 4,000 people with disabilities over the next 3 years, with an estimated 1,200 securing jobs as a result of the support. At least 60% of targeted beneficiaries will be women with disabilities.

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