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In a quiet neighborhood of Warsaw, Danuta stands at the door of the organization where she works as a senior ICT trainer. The first time she entered this very same door, almost ten years ago, she was as a trainee. Since that time she has overcome unemployment, dependency, and lack of motivation and self-esteem. She has made her life more socially and economically productive. Today she helps others that, like herself, felt ill and became disabled after having a career and professional life.
As a trainer for the Foundation Supporting Physically Disabled Mathematicians and IT specialists (FPMiINR, its Polish acronym), Danuta helps disabled people to get back to the employment path. Promoting the values of professionalism, self-respect, and “active minds”, Danuta, together with the other trainers and the FPMilNR staff, work relentlessly to combat the “culture of unemployment.” A culture especially pervasive among older people with disabilities who, for most of their lives, were denied education and work opportunities — even when they were capable of having a “normal” professional life.
FPMiINR was created in 1990 as an initiative of the Polish Academy of Science to improve the technical IT knowledge of scientists with disabilities. As the initiative matured, the Foundation realized that the demand in the labor market for scientists was high; it broadened the scope of the program to reach disabled people generally.
Today, the Foundation offers a comprehensive approach to employability, providing psychological and legal counseling, job search assistance, links to employers, ICT training and business development workshops. FPMilNR operates two Warsaw community technology centers (CTCs). Forty regional rural centers are being rolled out in partnership with entities such as the European Union, Microsoft, ECORYS, and the Polish Ministry of Education.
Family support and a spark of self-esteem: the right start
Seventeen years ago, Danuta fell sick to a severe form of rheumatism after she gave birth to her son. During her time as a teacher she also completed a bachelor’s degree in education; working during the week and studying in the weekends at the University of Warsaw. After the diagnosis Danuta lost her job, of 13 years, as a teacher. “The disease is very painful, everything hurts and sometimes the pain makes walking very hard. When I was diagnosed with rheumatism it was a shock for me, it changed everything in my life. I lost motivation. I lost even my self-esteem.”
For four years, Danuta endured the disease without a job. With two-years of maternity leave and vacation time she had accumulated, Danuta provided temporary income for her family. But her dreams of returning to teaching ended when the government ruled that, due to her illness, she couldn’t perform with excellence in her job. The government denied me the opportunity to get back to my job after all those years of experience and devotion… I didn’t know what to do. I felt lost. But I never los