CLEARIFYING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH 'DSWD'

   One thing we have learned in our opportunities in the Philippines is how important relationships are in the Asian cultures. If you try to rush things and not develop a good relationship with people and organizations, you are destined to fail. Such is the point with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
   This is a government organization that oversees and works with the PWDs (persons with disabilities). They are in every community and are the workhorse and watchdog for NCDA (National Council of Disability Affairs).
  DSWD has worked with us for a long time in helping us provide mobility devices for the disabled. We have trained many assessors from their group and encoders to enter in the orders for the proper device. However, lately we have let communication slide and not done what we needed to keep our relationship a high priority.

 

They asked to visit us to find out what is going on . The head of the department is nearest the camera. She is herself in a wheelchair and has been disabled for her entire life. She helps us gain a better perspective on what the disabled are dealing with.

The meeting is very successful and preconceived ideas are corrected by the talking out the challenges we both face. We find we are again on the same road and going the same direction.

Gaining mutual understanding is a much desired thing and appreciated on both sides. I am grateful for their willingness to work with us and by doing so help so many that need the disability aids we can provide.

As missionaries we must learn to do as their culture does. We can get more done if we listen more and talk less.