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This is the first time I joined the EFC – ILO LEEDS Project as an EFC employee. It was held for, persons with disabilities and for their families and for the rest of the community in Mulativu and Kilinochchi areas.

This programme was organized as per one of the project objectives of conducting awareness programme for the communities and the donor funded project in North in order to educate of non disabled persons about disability Issues and the business case for Persons with disabilities working. The main focus of the programme was to promote economic development in the North that is inclusive and creates decent jobs and long term sustainable livelihoods.

It was a continuous four days workshop 18th Jan- 21st Jan 2015 and the EFC team has changed their programme agenda, the techniques and the strategies as per the audience preference, in order to make the sessions more interactive. Particularly, the sudden role plays our team performed when the opportunity requires. It helped to acquire the expected target and became a win-win opportunity for the both parties to gain more understanding on the subject of persons with disabilities.

Personally, It was an interesting, awesome, experience for me to discuss persons with disabilities ‘ issues, day to day life challenges and obstacles ,those are different from my earlier experience of dealing with persons with disabilities. It was an amazing opportunity to deal with people who have directly suffered from 30 years war and to deal with their minds, different attitudes and lifestyles.

Moreover, The MAS Active factory visit was a perfect practical experience for us to identify the advantages of on the job training , and to identify any barriers that persons with disabilities face in the production process, and see the worker oriented solutions that the management has implemented to overcome those obstacles.

At the end of the workshop I gathered so many lovable memories; ultimately I earned countless self satisfaction helping them out.

Author: Manique