World Disability Day December 3, 2013
The observance of World Disability Day (WDD) means a lot to my soul as I started working in this sector in March 2009 in India. Prior to this I really didn’t think that much about or understand the lives of people living with a specific type of disability. From April 2009-February 2012 I was a CUSO-VSO volunteer at the National Trust, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. While volunteering I started and facilitated, with more than 200 NGOs, an India wide disability awareness raising campaign, Badhte Kadam (BK), which has proven to be sustainable, as the Campaign is now in its fifth year. This was a huge campaign and I’m very happy about its sustainability. I also developed and conducted capacity building workshops, throughout India, to many of the 900 NGOs working in disability, affiliated with the National Trust. I also got very much into wheelchair basketball when I coordinated an international wheelchair clinic and sports wheelchair donation (November 2011) with an American NGO, Wheelchair Athletes Worldwide (WAW).
When I came to Nepal in June 2012 I immediately connected myself with Persons with Disability and started coaching wheelchair basketball. I have been co-coaching the Nepal Army Wheelchair Basketball Team and am also mentoring young Nepalis to coach new teams of Persons with Disability, through an innovative program with ENGAGE. This is all due to my VSO experience in India combined with my love of basketball. I also facilitated another international wheelchair sports program in May 2013, where 11 sports wheelchairs were donated to Nepal by WAW with three days of clinics. This is the very first that we have these specialized wheelchairs in Nepal.
To me it doesn’t much matter which sport we are playing as long as Persons with Disability are participating as per the UN Convention on the Right of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD), of which Nepal is a signatory. Article 30-Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport specifies these issues:
5. With a view to enabling persons with disabilities to participate on an equal basis with others in recreational, leisure and sporting activities, States Parties shall take appropriate measures:
- To encourage and promote the participation, to the fullest extent possible, of persons with disabilities in mainstream sporting activities at all levels;
- To ensure that persons with disabilities have an opportunity to organize, develop and participate in disability-specific sporting and recreational activities and, to this end, encourage the provision, on an equal basis with others, of appropriate instruction, training and resources;
- To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sporting, recreational and tourism venues;
- To ensure that children with disabilities have equal access with other children to participation in play, recreation and leisure and sporting activities, including those activities in the school system;
- To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to services from those involved in the organization of recreational, tourism, leisure and sporting activities.
When I see the smiles of persons in wheelchairs “running” down the court, making a great pass leading to a basket, or not, I feel a sense of happiness and know why I spend countless volunteer hours in service. There is no doubt that there is competition, but it is more about the opportunities to participate, just like anyone else. Why should it be any different?
The theme of WDD Day 2013 is “Break barriers, open doors: for an inclusive society for all”. Thanks to my work at the National Trust, I know a lot about inclusion, accessibility and providing opportunities. Breaking barriers is really not that difficult as long as we are willing to work towards more inclusion in the world. When it comes down to it why shouldn’t everybody be able to participate based on one’s abilities. After all it isn’t really about disability but is about discoverability.
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