Today marks the start of the 41st National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) Week! This annual celebration lasts until July 23, the birthday of famous parapelegic Filipino hero, Apolinario Mabini.



Headed by the National Council on Disability Affairs, the main goal of NDPR Week is to raise awareness about issues around disability, and to encourage more Filipinos to contribute to nation-building, by supporting persons with disabilities and providing them with equal opportunities. NDPR Week features various organizations and government agencies who host workshops, events and seminars, from baking classes for children with visual impairment to workshops for caretakers and families of persons with disabilities.



Project Inclusion

Project Inclusion advocates for hiring persons with disabilities, and works to increase awareness about the benefits of workplace inclusion. Since 2013, Project Inclusion has worked with companies around the Philippines, placing more than 700 persons with different disabilities in all sorts of industries and jobs.



To celebrate the NDPR Week, we asked Project Inclusion to talk to about some local companies that have hired persons with disabilities.



1. Citihub

Photo courtesy of Project Inclusion

Panya Boonsirithum, founder of Citihub, says there are 3 million Filipinos who commute to work every day. This is why he saw a need for affordable housing for low-income workers in Metro Manila. His solution? Container vans! Citihub is a social enterprise that provides affordable housing through recycling these surplus massive, steel boxes and converting them into affordable men’s dormitories that are clean and safe too.

One of the reasons Citihub stays clean and safe is because of the persons with disabilities who work as housekeepers, security guards and managerial positions. Boonsirithum says that in total, Citihub employs 16 persons with disabilities, which also include people with visual impairment, orthopedic disability and psychosocial disability.



2. Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc.

Photo courtesy of Project Inclusion

Founded in 2010, Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. (BAVI) is one of the leading poultry and livestock companies in the Philippines. You probably know them better for their Chooks-To-Go roasted chicken franchise.



They currently employ two persons with disabilities: Aljune Atok, a junior programmer with visual impairment, and Donna Tolentino, a finance assistant with a hearing impairment. Both of them have found much success in working with BAVI. Donna’s team learned sign language to better communicate with her, and Aljune made second place in a hackathon for the visually impaired.



3. Caravan Food Group, Inc.

Caravan Food Group, Inc. operates two concept stores: Elait, which serves artisanal rolled ice cream, and Overdoughs, which sells fried dough with mouth-watering dips, in a variety of forms, from classic doughnuts to beignets and Turkish loukoumades.



Both Elait and Overdoughs employ 64 persons with disabilities, including deaf people, people with Down Syndrome and people with developmental delays. Elait has signage around the store, teaching customers sign language so that they can better communicate with the deaf persons serving the mouth-watering ice cream.



Caravan’s CEO, Francis Reyes shares that many of the abled employees had no prior knowledge of sign language, but due to a culture of inclusivity and support, some of them are more fluent than he is now!

Do you know of other companies that hire persons with disabilities? Tell us in the comments below!

