In between orders from the DepEd which are facilitated by the national office of the Federation, we look for other customers. Among them are private schools and individuals. We also make wheelchairs for fellow PWDs and for the DSWD. Our wheelchairs have reached as far as Iligan in Mindanao. When there are lapses in orders for chairs, we make scented candles. There are countless things we can do together because the skill of one soon becomes everybody’s skill!
Our highest policy-making body is the General Assembly (GA) held once a year. The Board of Directors (BOD), which serves as the highest policy-making body in between the GAs, is elected by the GA. Although our board meetings were not held regularly this past year, it was not difficult for the board to meet whenever there were organizational matters to attend to. From time to time, we also have had misunderstandings but settling differences is not difficult for us. Conducting dialogues whenever needed has already become a part of our organizational system.
At the moment, FARAD has two problems – we have no permanent workplace and our revolving capital is insufficient. There are times when we cannot finish the chairs on time especially during rainy days. Since we are using tents, when it rains very hard, we have to stop working. In addition, the sustainability of our project is not yet assured because the place where our workshop is situated has been lent to us on a temporary basis. In terms of our revolving capital, since the DepEd pays the chairs only when these are delivered, we are often constrained to borrow money with high interest using our purchase order as collateral. Thus, when we get the payment for our chair, instead of putting up an amount for our capital build-up, the money is used to pay the interest of our loans. Sometimes we use the savings of our members for our capitalization but usually, this is not enough.
At the moment, we are scouting for a place which we can purchase on a loan basis. Here, we will set up our workshop and common quarters for those who have no families. A part of the lot will be developed into a farm wherein we will plant vegetables and raise livestock. Those of us who have families will purchase a lot and build their houses within the lot or near it. This way, we can continuously develop our “dream community” or our “big family of PWDs.” Here, we also plan to set up an additional business which can contribute to the sustainability of our cooperative. At the federation level, we dream of having board members who can truly work for the continuing development of our federation.
- Chairman : Ms. Maggie Dacasin
- Manager : Mr. Melchor Bantiloc