DISABILITY IS NOT INABILITY

Our real disabilities come from inside us, don’t tell yourself you can’t do something, keep on trying and if one way doesn’t work try another. (Rashida Rowe)

In Kenya, most caregivers of disable children give up at the very beginning because they think of the curse God imposed on them. They feel ashamed, while they are stigmatized and isolated by the community. Hardly a few of them climb the mountains of hurdles and touch the sky because disability can be a limitation but nothing can limit a person’s skills.

That being said, disabilities do not discriminate. In fact, children with disabilities make up not only the largest but also the most inclusive and diverse minority group. Disability can affect all children despite their ethnic group, age, socioeconomic status, gender, or religion. On the other hand, what makes a child without visible disabilities “normal”? What is normal and what isn’t depends on society’s standards. Moreover, we make them “different” by accepting the feeling that having them around is an uncomfortable experience. Commonly in schools and other institutions, children who have disabilities, both cognitive and physical, are segregated from the rest of the group. However, is this the best option? By accepting this, we are not only doing them a disservice but ourselves as well.

Having a disability might be a serious problem, but should not be seen just as an inconvenience. A disability is a need and should be seen as such. Some people need to wear glasses when they read, others need a wheelchair in order to get around. Children with disabilities are not weird: they have strengths and abilities. who we can learn from. By alienating them, we reinforce the idea that they are different than the rest of us.

Hence, it is critical reaching out to grass-roots, from community members to committee workers, traditional and church leaders, families with disabled children, women groups, health worker. The list is endless. Awareness creation on the rights of the disabled to be fully integrated and counted in all sectors of society is a time and consuming task. However, the community will change through the insight rising of a different perspective by focusing on abilities instead of inabilities and disabilities,