Centre celebrates graduation

Youth & Careers

The Callan Services Inclusive Education Resource Centre at Gerehu, Port Moresby, celebrated the graduation of its first communitybased volunteers last Friday.
The 17 volunteers and eight staff from the centre received certificates of participation after attending a week-long training workshop themed ‘Community-based rehabilitation’.
The workshop taught the volunteers skills in identifying the types of disabilities and their causes, how to prevent disabilities, how to help people living with disabilities and stop stigmatisation.
The 17 volunteers will be working closely with the centre and the network of Callan Services for Persons with Disabilities to do outreach work in their communities in Gerehu such as data collection on the number of people living with disabilities and assist their families on how to take care of their disabled family members better.
One of the volunteers and a retired pediatric nurse educator Cecilia Paike, said she was very excited about the training she received and plans to “go to work” immediately in her community with families that have disabled members.
“There are many people living with disabilities in my community and as a nurse I want to help them but didn’t know how I could approach them as some of their families were over-protective,” Paike said.
“Now that I have received this training, I believe that I am well equipped and this motivates me to go out and give help where it is needed.”
Paulus Pasbon, a teacher at Callan Services who facilitated the workshop, said that the workshop and graduation of the volunteers was a stepping stone for the centre and thanked the volunteers.