Association of People with Disabilities "Shpresa"

Psychological and Social Services Center

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:55:00 +0000

The goal of this project was to give the parents of children with disabilities and people with disabilities, members of Shpresa, a chance to be informed about their guaranteed rights by the laws in Macedonia by a social worker and also hear from a psychologist how to manage and overcome their ordinary problems and stressful situations. Over the 3 months of the project’s implementation, 24 members were able to meet with the phycologist and social worker. Having access to this information should help reduce discrimination, the use of violence in their families and avoid divorces, since divorce is an additional misfortune for children with disabilities.

This project began on October 1st, 2009 and will last until December 31st, 2009 and was financially supported by the Ministry of Labor and Social Politics of the Republic of Macedonia.. Since the interest was great from the parents who attended, we hope that we will be able to find a donor to support the implementation of this project during 2010.

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:02:00 +0000

The videos from the summer's IT & English classes are now up on the website.
English Lessons
IT Lessons

Technology and English Classes for the Disabled – Summer 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:10:00 +0000

During June and July 2009, APD Shpresa implemented a project supported by the Small Project Assistance program, an opportunity made possible by USAID and Peace Corps Macedonia. For 8 weeks of the summer, 9 members attended 2 hour classes on the weekends to learn both English and Information Technology skills.

The classes were taught by Afrim Bajrami, with Blerim Rexhepi assisting students as well. The English lessons covered the beginners level of the spoken language, starting with learning the letter names of the English alphabet, introducing oneself, and basic sentences and questions in the past, present and future tenses.

Students learned to use Microsoft Office software during the IT sessions. The classes gave in depth instruction on how to use MS Word, Publisher and Powerpoint, which are important skills to have for future employment opportunities.

Each session was recorded on video to increase the reach of the project within the community. The recordings were edited into lessons ranging from 5-20 minutes, focusing on the main lessons of the project. All of these lessons were compiled into a DVD and distributed to the students who attended the courses over the summer so that they can practice and review what they have learned. The rest of the DVDs will be given to other members interested in learning more about English and IT, and the lessons will be available on the internet via APD Shpresa’s website in the near future.

November 25, 2009 marked the official end of the project with a small gathering to give out certificates. Sefer Hiseni, a member of APD Shpresa who works in the Municipality of Chair, spoke with the students about his experience living and working in the local community with a disability, empowering the students to continue their efforts to learn and improve their skills.

Conditions for communicating for people with disabilities without barriers

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:32:00 +0000

This project was financially supported by the Macedonian Government, the sector for cooperation with the NGOs and we took the initiative to build 5 accesses in front of 5 different public institutions. Project began implementation on January 2nd and ended on March 27th 2009, and we are convinced that the project was a great success.
We, as an association that treats the problems of the people with disabilities plan to implement these kinds of projects in the future as well, since we are deeply convinced that these projects directly influence the living conditions in their area.

The Local Action Plan for the People with Disability in the Municipality of Chair, 2008-2010

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:50:00 +0000

With the purpose to improve the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities in the municipality of Chair, A.P.D. "Shpresa", in cooperation with the French organization "Handicap International", many other organizations, and of course, with strong support from the municipality of Chair, encouraged the creation of the local action plan for the people with disabilities which is entirely based on the United Nations standards.
This project was realized during the year 2007, and was highlighted by it acceptance on December 7th, 2007, when this plan approved by the municipality council.
This project recognized all the problems that preoccupy the people with disabilities in the territory of the Chair municipality, and as it was predicted, the three year period of implementation started. At the beginning of 2008, a contract was signed between A.P.D. Shpresa and the French organization "Handicap International", solely for the implementation of this plan, and during this year, the working group which was predicted to be formed, in cooperation with the representatives of the municipality, did a very successful job and achieved these results:

With our activities, we built 2 access ramps in front of 2 public institutions;

APD Shpresa realized a course in field of IT, which lasted 3 months, starting September 10th, 2008 until December 28th, 2008;

Access for people with disabilities was built in the main entrance of the municipality of Chair, which was built by all the building standards;

Preparations for the foundation of the information office that will work based on the one-counter system;

It is understandable that we, as an association, the activities for the implementation of the local action plan 2008-2010, will continue during 2009 and we hope that we can achieve bigger and more concrete results.

Accepting the local action plan in the municipality of Chair

Public Debate at Shkolla Fillore Liria

Local action plan seminar in the municipality of Chair

Initial vocational training for people with disability

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:23:00 +0000

The preparation phase of this project started on September 10th, 2008 and the actual training started on October 20th, 2008. Twenty four of our members, divided into 4 groups of 4, were predicted to follow this training, based on their previous knowledge in the field of I.T. This training took place in the educational training, a part of APD “Shpresa”. This project lasted until December 28th, 2008, and was financially supported by the City of Skopje.

Youth in combat against social exclusion

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:30:00 +0000

The association of people with disabilities Shpresa, during the last 3 years, dedicated itself to create the conditions for the overall inclusion of the people with disabilities in the regular schools. This is not unintentionally, since is well known that the education of a person is what builds up it’s character.
The projects that contributed for the creating of the conditions are implemented in different ways. When we say that, we mean the changes that the project suffered in time, all in favor of its perfection. This means that until 2 years ago, this project was implemented solely threw the theater play. Lately, a workshop is predicted as well. The last project was financially supported by the well known Soros foundation, and was implemented in Strumica, Stip, Veles and Struga. This project started with the implementation on November 1st, 2007 and lasted until April 30th, 2008.

The goal of this project was to gather together the representatives of all the educational institutions, representatives of all NGOs, and representatives from the municipality since the municipality has most of the authorities in the field of education, to sensitize, encourage and create the conditions for the best possible inclusion of children with disabilities in the regular schools.

The conditions to be fulfilled are:
-Every educational institution to have physical access;
-Every educational institution to have a defectologist employed;
-All the educational institutions are to be equipped with medical equipment for the pupils with disability;

The second goal of this project was, in parallel, to give out research papers to all the representatives present in the workshop, which had questions like: how many schools in that municipality have physical access, how many children with disability actually go to those schools and do those schools have defectologists employed.

The third goal of this project was the raising awareness, no matter if its about the pupils in those schools or the teachers, so they will accept these children in their society without stereotypes or prejudges.

This project was implemented in two phases:
-The first phase was organizing a workshop for the previously mentioned representatives from the particular municipality, in which the lectured the defectologist;

-The second phase was the presentation of the Street Theatre, which was meant to be seen by the children of all the schools in that municipality;

This was all followed by posters and fliers.
With this project, the following municipalities were included as well, beyond the 4 municipalities mentioned: Skopje, Kumanovo, Tetovo, Gostivar, Kicevo and Kavadarci. With this same project, we intend to include all the rest of the municipalities of Macedonia, because this is the only way we can say that we didn’t discriminate the people with disabilities who live in these municipalities.

280 wheelchairs, donation from the USA

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:38:00 +0000

Many people with disabilities are in need of wheelchairs and cannot afford to purchase them, even with social help from the government. We recently completed a project, in cooperation with the United States Peace Corps in Macedonia that provided wheelchairs to those in need in Macedonia and helped bridge this gap in governmental social service.

The idea for the project was born two years ago during a meeting between the previous Peace Corps director and the President of APD “Shpresa”, Elvat Muharemi. The commitment and cooperation of APD Shpresa and Peace Corps Macedonia brought the project to realization this past year. On July 15th, 2008, we received word that 280 wheelchairs had been shipped to Greece for our project and were ready to be brought to Macedonia. The necessary documentation was prepared and the government of Macedonia allowed the wheelchairs to be brought into the country exempt of duty fees. Logistics company Orbit handled the customs process and the wheelchairs were stored in a warehouse until the planned date to give them to members that had applied for a wheelchair.

On August 1st, 2008, we invited our members and their families, Peace Corps Macedonia and media representatives, to join us for giving out the wheelchairs. The event was very emotional for all of us; our members, along with their families were overjoyed to be able to receive the wheelchairs.

In the following months, we have dispersed wheelchairs to other organizations:

August 20, 2008
- 10 wheelchairs to the Gerontology Centre “13 Noemvri”

August 26, 2008
- 30 wheelchairs to the Association for protecting the rights of people with disability “ Mirsija”, Kumanovo

August 28, 2008
- 40 wheelchairs to the Association of people with paraplegics and child’s paralysis “Handicap”, Tetovo

September 06, 2008
- 26 wheelchairs to the “Handicap-Uniteti”, Gostivar

September 24, 2008
- 10 wheelchairs to the association of people with physical disability “Kicevo”, Kicevo

October 21, 2008
- 10 wheelchairs to the association of people with physical disability “Debar”, Debar

October 22, 2008
- 10 wheelchairs to the association of people with physical disability “Shpresa”, Skopje

October 27, 2008
- 5 wheelchairs to the Day Centre “Tetovo”

Another event for giving out the wheelchairs was held in Kumanovo on September 14th. APD “Shpresa” was present, along with Peace Corps representatives. The weather was less than ideal for such an occasion and few people were able to be present to receive their wheelchairs. However, close family members were able to deliver them. The other organizations were unable to arrange an event in their cities.

A Law Without Handicaps, Heading towards Europe

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:52:00 +0000

1 July – 15 September

This very interesting project has been developed, planned, and implemented amongst three organizations working towards the rights of disabled people. This organization, “Shpresa,” the Organization for Students with Disabilities, and “Polio Plus” are working together in realization. The German organization GTZ, in cooperation with the Macedonian Secretariat for European Affairs are working on this project for the integration of disabled people in the law as Macedonia works towards European Union membership.

This project will involve a thorough and exhaustive survey about the conditions for access (both physical and educational) for students with disabilities. A survey is being conducted with respondents from the University of Tetovo, and the conditions of inclusion at SEE-U (Southeaster European University), a prominent private University will be compared and contrasted with those of State Universities, such as the University of Tetovo. The results of this will be used to make recommendations for change to the Ministry of Education. The Ministry is committed to the project and has agreed to take the necessary steps to improve conditions.

Cross-Border Cooperation in Tirana, Albania

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 11:55:00 +0000

NGO "Shpresa" in cooperation with our partners in the CHA (Coalition of Handicap Associations) alliance had the fortunate opportunity to visit Tirana, Albania and participate in 3 days of meetings and conferences with organizations and members of the government in order to discuss possibilities of cross-border cooperation, and more concretely, the creation of an umbrella organization for people with disabilities.

The opinion of the President of “Shpresa” for this visit to Albania is that the work there is clear and they have taken a good road which is absent here in

Macedonia

. This visit was very essential since we live in a state that is in a transitional phase where even still we don’t have a concrete initiative for forming and umbrella organization and also with the large attempts from EDF, however in the end we advise that also here in Macedonia should make something regarding the rights and the cases of everyone they have we have listened for three days and will continue to serve and make our contributions which also here to work faster and clearer and definitely form and umbrella organization to bring Macedonian organization on an equal level and in this manner the lives and rights of people with disabilities will be advanced in the most effective manner.

Seminar about the new law in Veles, Macedonia

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 11:54:00 +0000

11-12 June 2006
On this weekend, Elvat Muharemi, President of "Shpresa" and as well as members of our Coalition for Handicap Associations in Macedonia (CHA) participated in a seminar in Veles, Macedonia along with representatives from over 10 Disability NGOs throughout the country. The topic of the seminar was "Implementing the New Systematic Law for Disabled Persons." This is the new Macedonia law that "Polio Plus" led and our organization has participated in the development of significantly. The conference was an absolute success, with practical exercises as well as useful information.

Early Summer Picnic

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Wed, 31 May 2006 11:58:00 +0000

31 May 2006

Today "Shpresa" held a wonderful picnic to which was invited disabled people and their families. Many people attended and enjoyed a beautiful day and many activities. The local grill, "Pcela" donated 200 sandwiches and "Bistra Company" donated refreshments for all in attendance. This is the second annual picnic and we will be continuing this tradition every year. Here are some pictures from this event.

Shpresa-sponsored debate on law

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 12:05:00 +0000

12 April 2006
Following the Parliamentary debate on Tuesday, "Shpresa" held a more intimate debate, with a particular focus on how the law will affect the Albanian community. Present at the debate were the following experts: Prof. Dr. Abdylmenaf Bexheti, Prof. Dr. Osman Kradriu, Juristi Naser Zyberi, Znj. Flora Kadriu from the Department of State, Deputy Ismet Ramadani, and Hysni Shaqiri, and Journalists from "Fakti," "MTV 2," "Radio Vati," and "Dnevnik." Also present were representatives from "Polio Plus" NGO and "Handicap International."

New Year's Party for Disabled Children

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 13:12:00 +0000

28 December 2005
Today at the restaurant "Business" in Skopje, this organization, "Shpresa" held a New Year party for disabled children, their parents, and individuals who helped throughout the year. This organization was thrilled to provide an opportunity for disabled children to be in an encouraging and accepting environment, if only for one afternoon. All disabled children received recognition and also a packet provided by the organization which included treats, chocolate, and other goodies for the new year. Also, "Shpresa" briefly reviewed the very active year of 2005 and all projects that the organization has completed and is working on. Over 100 people attended, including the director of the Skopje Airport, the deputy of PPD political party, and several notably humanitarians and professors.

A lot of Media was present at the event, including one television station and two newspapers. Scanned copies of the newspaper articles are available here. Click here for article from newspaper "Lajm" or click here for the article from newspaper "Fakti."

Year-End Meeting of the Organization

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:36:00 +0000

23 December 2005

The formal year-end meeting of "Shpresa" was held at a nearby school. The board of the organization presented financial reports and narratives about activities from the year 2005 and discussed the plan of the organization and activities that will be realized for the coming year, 2006.

Participation in Skopje NGO Fair

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 13:37:00 +0000

9-11 December 2005

The 5th annual NGO fair was held in Skopje, Macedonia this weekend. Shpresa was one of more than a hundred organizations who took part in the event. It was a fantastic opportunity for the general public to learn more about the activities of the organization, and for the organization to make contacts with other NGOs in the region.

International Day of Disabled Persons

noreply@blogger.com (Association of People with Disabilities -Shpresa) — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 13:38:00 +0000

3 December 2005

In recognition of this day, the international day of disabled persons, this organization, in cooperation with the Post Office in Cair, Skopje, constructed a series of ramps to allow access to this important location. Pictured is the main ramp that was constructed along the main staircase to access the post office branch. Not pictured are two smaller ramps that were constructed to allow full access from the street level for persons with special needs.

We thank Divella pasta for their support in this project and the Cair post office for their full support and cooperation throughout the process of constructing this ramp.