THE AFMR BOARD MEETING in Oct 2002

In preparation for the 16^th Asia Conference on Mental Retardation to be held from 21 Aug 03– 25 Aug 03 in Tsukuba City, Japan, the AFMR annual board meeting was held from 26 Oct 02 to 28 Oct 02 at Tsukuba International Congress Centre.

Board Members started to arrive from 25 Oct 02.   A total of 15 participants attended the meeting. Dr Emily and Rev Brenan from Republic of China, 2 from Korea, 3 from Singapore, 2 from Indonesia, 2 from Thailand, 1 from Philippine, 5 from Japan and 1 from Nepal.   Dr Yeung Tak Wah from Hong Kong was not able to make it for the meeting. In addition, key members of the local organising committee were present to brief on the progress of the organisation of the 16^th ACMR and to ask for endorsements and take comments from the board.

Of the 4 Honorary members, only Mr D.R. Daniel from Malaysia was not present. The board was concerned about Mr Daniel as he has not attended the last 2 board meetings.    The permanent secretariat has made a commitment to try to locate him and report at the next board meeting.

The final report on the 15^th ACMR was presented by the Immediate Past President, Dr Teresita Inciong.  She reported that the objectives of the conference were fully achieved. Of the 528 participants, 178 came from countries which includes Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, China, Taiwan, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and USA.   Ten percent were parents and 22 persons with mental retardation attended.

Prof Kaosu Yamaguchi provided a short update on the Asia Resource Centre in particular on the training courses conducted in Japan and Thailand.  Awards on care and training of the People with Mental Retardation in 2001 was presented to the paper “ Case study on Inclusion of Children with Mental Retardation.   The Philippines Experience” by Ms Estelita M.Samson and Ms Melinda G.Gerero from Philippines.

Dr Takeshi Kaneko on behalf of the President, Dr Masataka Arima, presented on the preparation of the 16^th ACMR.   The scheduled ceremonies and social events, fees, the tentative program,  the list of hotel and optional tours were all endorsed by the board.   The board was also pleased with the location for the conference in particular the auditorium for the opening and General assembly and the rooms for each of the sessions. The followings were also discussed and the organising committee would take these into consideration in their planning :

a.    The transportation of the participants from Tokyo to Tsukuba City. 
b.    Program for the self advocate
c.    Areas for the receptions, lunch and coffee break
d.    Optional tours: It was suggested that more tours be organised for participants to visit organisations for Intellectually Disabled Person.

After the formal meetings, the board visited two ID organisations: Shonan and a special school. The board members found these field visits suitable and educational.

Especially insightful is the visit to Shonan. We visited their residential facility, their half way house, group home as well as their bread shop.

The planning for the 16^th ACMR is on schedule and the objectives set out for the AFMR Board Meeting were all attained. The success must be credited to the careful and detailed planning and the commitment of the organising committee for the 16^th ACMR. 

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