Yin Brown, 2016 Apolinario Mabini Lecturer and Awardee. MARISA ROQUE
TORONTO, Ontario – An international organization honored a longtime advocate for the disabled with an award named after disabled Filipino hero Apolinario Mabini.
The International Center for Disability and Rehabilitation-Philippine Working Group (ICDR-PWG) handed Yin Brown its 2016 Apolinario Mabini Lecturer award during its gala 2016 Dinner of Hope on Sept. 24.
Brown has been a disability advocate for more than 15 years on both the local and international scenes. She is active in coalitions and networks addressing disability issues at the national, provincial and municipal levels.
Her latest advocacy is information and communications access for the blind and partially sighted in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). She is also trying to make Canadian international development policies include disability issues.
Brown is well known for networking, program development and public speaking. Her work experience includes government relations, adult education and Christian missions.
From left: Ken Quismundo (ICDR-PWG), Dr. Darlene Reid (Chair, Physical Therapy Department, University of Toronto), Yin Brown, Dr. Stephanie Nixon (ICDR executive director, University of Toronto)
The ICDR-PWG is based at the University of Toronto. The organization seeks to improve the quality of life among people living with disabilities, by building partnerships with “colleagues and organizations in low-and middle-income countries.”
To date there are 14 projects in the Philippines–nine in Luzon, three in the Visayas and one in Mindanao.
It relies on supporters to meet its goals. Aside from its current 14 projects in the Philippines, the organization has been instrumental in the continuing education of professionals in the rehabilitation field in Canada through a seminar series called the Annual Lecture Day, where local and international experts speak.
The ICDR-PWG was established in 2007. In its tenth year of operation, seven partners currently work with the organization, among them the Philippine Consulate in Canada (through Consul Robert Lee) that sends rehabilitation items for the people of Cebu; University of the Philippines (Manila campus) that assists in the areas of research, education, advocacy, and service delivery; the Association of Differently-Abled Persons in Iloilo Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ADPIMC) doing a vermicomposting project at present that seeks to provide farmers with organic fertilizer. This ecofriendly and sustainable livelihood project employs 15 disabled people. With Dr. David Magee’s help (from the 2010 Lecture Day) the PWG was able to grant funding to the ADPIMC.
Other partners include KAAKBAY Rehab, the first nongovernmental organization partner of ICDR-Philippines; the Philippines Physical Therapy Association; the Community Alliance for Social Justice; and the Society of Physiologists with Foreign Credentials.
ICDR-PWG members are Christine Abadiano, Juvy Alix-Lloren, Jeffrey Andrion (co-chair), Teresa Baclig, Regina Balisi, Marianne Bayongan, Grace Bernaga, Sharon Cancino, Arlyn Dadufalza, Toni Paz David, Efren Encarnacion, Hilda Ho, Noel Laguna, Jasfe Llapitan, Sharon Mauhay-Gallardo, Melanie Pacheco, Gefestalia Padrique, Rodolfo Quimbo (co-chair), Kenneth Quismundo, Jovylyn Ronquillo, Jacquelin Rotella, Jane Santiago-Falmarin, Corinne Gay Tinaco, and Gladys Villaruel.