Job opportunities for Tibet's disabled increase

Data from the Tibet Disabled Persons' Federation show that the Tibet autonomous region has arranged employment for 17,700 people with disabilities, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The federation recently marked May 15－China's 32nd National Disability Day－with a series of activities in Lhasa, the regional capital, to support and help promote the development of people with disabilities.

Participants in the activities were given rehabilitation aids and offered employment consultations.

The activities this year included an exhibition corner, where handmade items produced by the disabled were displayed, including artistic works, Tibetan incense and incense burners.

Official statistics show that since 2018, the region has spent 200,000 yuan ($29,653) on helping 100 college graduates from impoverished families through job training and by subsidizing their search for work.

In 2017, Kyila, who is visually impaired, started a job as a secretary at the Fukang Angel Foundation, an affiliate of the Tibet Fukang Medical Corporation, one of the few private hospitals in the autonomous region.

"I am very satisfied with my job. I liked to do charity work before I started working here, and the job not only helps me a lot, it also allows me to encourage more disabled people like me to find work," she said.

"The federation has been working hard to support disabled people in recent years, and they have been trying to draw the attention of society to support the development of the disabled."

Due to the lack of official institutions working with the disabled in the past, Kyila said that many were reluctant to show up in public when there was an activity. Now, however, they have become more confident and supportive.

"Through the activities, we get to know a lot of people, and often, we meet people willing to help us," she said, adding that many visually impaired people already work in massage parlors in Lhasa, but that they are capable of doing much more.

"Thanks to the government's care for the disabled, I know disabled people who have found jobs as civil servants after graduating from university," she added.

"As the pressure on new graduates to find a job is increasing in Tibet, I now see more and more disabled people starting their own businesses."