..DAVAO CITY (PIA) - Persons with disabilities (PWDs) have found suitable means of earning a living on the Internet.
Differently-abled graphic artist head Darlito Palermo, an engineer, said his organization established by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has paved the way for about 50 PWDs in Davao City to work online, earning as much as R30,000 a month.
Palermo viewed online jobs as suitable for PWDs who need not go to workplaces most of which have yet to establish accessible features such as ramps.
"They can work at home. They don't need to go out, commute, and go to work in establishments which are not accessible," he said.
PWDs are now working online for companies based in Singapore, Netherlands, the United States, Australia, and other developed countries, rendering services as virtual assistants, web designers, content writers, data encoder, remote PC assistant, among others.
Totally blind, 25-year-old Maricel Fornis of Sasa, Davao City shared her experiences working online during the Career and Employment Advocacy held Wednesday at SM City Annex in observance of the 34th National Prevention and Rehabilitation Week.
Fornis said she lost her sight in a vehicular accident in February 2002, but she rose from the misfortune by training for online work.
She now serves as the virtual secretary of an executive director of a company based in Singapore. She arranges flight summaries, book hotels, coordinate meetings, and prepare documents for visa applications of her employer.
She views online work as beneficial to PWDs who would be spared from the hazards of mobile barriers because they only have to stay at home and work on their internet-connected personal computers. Working online makes them save expenses for transportation and fuel, she said.
Fornis also shared information about the values and attitudes which had help her stay long in online work. She said one must be determined, resourceful, initiative, conscious about the importance of global services and must be result-oriented.
"Gikinahanglan ang right attitude. Dali lang tun-an ang computer pero dili ang right attitude. Apan ang right attitude ang gikinahanglan kaayo. (Right attitude is needed. It is easy to learn how to use the computer but not the right attitude which is the most important)," she said.
Meanwhile, 30-year old orthopedic Gil V. Alfeche of Sasa, Davao City is now working as a quality control assurance officer of an English online tutorial company based in Singapore.
Recalling his quest for a job, he said he used to repair cellphone services, among other odd jobs after dropping from college as a graduating student of computer engineering of the University of Mindanao.
Because of his desire to look for jobs online, he borrowed money from friends just to buy his own computer unit and connected to the internet. That started opening up fortunes for him.
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