The Center for Supporting Businesses of Visually-Impaired People in Chisinau will launch a new stage of the program to finance businesses started by persons with visual impairments in June-July. The project offers the beneficiaries the possibility of creating own workplaces in the country, where there are practically no employment offers for the visually-impaired.

Contacted by IPN, Lilia Doibani, coordinator of business assistance at the Center, said that more than 20 beneficiaries in 2012 managed to launch their own businesses. “We help them to start a small business by opening mini-hothouses for vegetables or rabbit farms,” said Lilia Doibani.

The potential beneficiaries put forward business ideas and, after they are assessed, receive financial assistance in the form of a grant of €500 and another €500 in the form of a loan without interest. The own businesses are started with these resources.

According to Lilia Doibani, after talks were carried out with representatives of the Labor Employment Agency in 2011, a number of disabled persons found employment. Ten of them continue to work. The previous experience shows yet that the employers do not want to hire persons with disabilities because they must create specific work conditions for them. This means additional investments. Furthermore, these persons must work for at most six hours a day and this does not stimulate the employers to provide work for them. In such conditions, a better solution is to help the disabled persons to create own workplaces.

The Center for Supporting Businesses of Visually-Impaired People continues to provide consultancy to persons with disabilities as how to present oneself in an interview and how to correctly write a CV. From this year, the Center provides services to all persons with disabilities, not only the visually-impaired ones.