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PTRI Release
February 27, 2001
Training
for persons with disabilities
Persons with
disabilities can now weave a new life for themselves.
On February 26 at the National Vocational and Rehabilitation
Center (NCRV) a training on handloom weaving will be conducted
by the DOST's Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) for
paraplegics and the deaf mutes. They be using the
therapeutic looms and four jack-type looms that were
fabricated by the PTRI.
The therapeutic loom invented by the PTRI is purposely
designed for paraplegics. It is a two-harness loom
without pedals but with mechanisms that are all hand
operated. The jack type loom is a six harness loom with
its treadle and shedding mechanism simply designed to make the
loom's operation lighter and easier to understand compared to
the traditional handlooms with the same number of harness.
These two types of handlooms were turned over by the PTRI to NVRC in the morning of February 26 at a simple ceremony
attended by PTRI's Director Carlos C. Tomboc, DSWD's NCR
Director Alicia R. Bala and the MKJ Service Link President
Marinela K. Jose. After which the first session of the
training will be conducted that would last up to March 29,
2001.
The batch of trainees composed of 20 paraplegics, seven
deaf/mutes and four NVRC trainers will be taught basic &
advanced handloom weaving and then will do production trial of
products they have learned to weave.
All of this is made possible by the Department of Science and
Technology's grants-in-aid for PTRI's project on the Transfer
and Commercialization of Therapeutic/Jack-type Loom Weaving
Technology to People with Disability (PWD).
PTRI's Director Carlos C. Tomboc says that the therapeutic
look two years to be ready since PTRI's technologies kept
modifying the prototype in order to suit the needs of the
Filipino paraplegics while Mrs. Marinela K. Jose announced
that her company is always interested to find weavers that
could produce her product lines for export.
The opportunity has been set, it is now in the hands of these
persons with disabilities to weave their future.
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