Don’t pity disabled, they’re just like you

 

Disability in Kenya means several things. First and saddest in my eyes is the fact that it means that usually two people become disabled by the disability of one. This is easy enough to exhibit, in many Kenyan cities you will find those who beg are led around by an able bodied person, effectively turning both of them to beggar status. At the same time, the disabled have higher unemployment and poverty rates.

The population of those living with disabilities is higher in rural areas than it is in urban areas meaning that they also have less access to the care they need or the kind of learning facilities that can cater to their unique needs.

The circumstance is even harder when we consider that there are more disabled people under the age of 14 than those that are above that age. Previously, a disabled family member presented a huge financial burden.

Financial burden

The costs were exorbitant and the time investment would often lead to one spouse not working. However, this has changed and is set to change forever with the rollout of universal health care.

Conceivably now, every family can afford the care they need for their loved ones without breaking the bank. In fact, the government is busy signing on those who are living with disabilities onto the NHIF.

So far a paltry 5,000 have signed up but with time it is expected more should sign up, and if you are reading this you should get those you know who haven’t signed up to do so.

With good health care the next frontier will definitely be their ability to work and become engaged members of society. In a documentary called; “The boy who sees without eyes” the life of one Glenn Underwood who became blind after his eyes had to be removed because of cancer.

In a strange and miraculous twist of fate Glenn is able to “see” by clicking. He is the first human to be able to see as bats do; and he is very very good at it. He is able to ride his bicycle and skate all by the ear. He has taken playing by the ear to stratospheric new levels.

This story got me thinking, that perhaps as a nation we can finally change our minds from looking at those who live with disabilities as needing our help and pity, but instead to view them as only needing help: We need to view them as fellow members of our society able to deliver as much service to this nation as the rest of us; we forget that the greatest mind was on a wheelchair for many years, until he passed on a few weeks back; we forget that in this technology full existence we have, we are no longer limited by physical capacity but by the imagination.

So let us imagine the fate of those who are living with disabilities. Let us not just think of access to buildings, let us instead think of access to life. A full. enjoyable and fulfilling life. Let us stop hiding them in our homes and bring them out to live.

Let us embrace them and give incentives for companies to hire them. Let us give tax incentives to corporates and individuals that give working opportunities to these members of society. This way we will be able to see and interact with them in a dignified sense. We need to delete the image that’s in many a city dwellers mind that a disabled person is a beggar or a street sweet vendor at best. No, no and again no.

They must be seen as people with capacity. The government must in short order legislate these incentives.

Mental shift

Further, we must begin to punish families that deny their members access to education and health in the name of superstition and shame. It should be illegal to keep anyone in the dark based on our perception of them as a burden. We should force families to bring out the gems that are in the hearts and minds of these precious ones.

There is representation in Parliament, both nominated and elected. We must then have representation in every sphere of life for our brothers and sisters living with disabilities. It is my hope that as Kenya co-hosts the disability summit, that we will take the lead in bringing about the required shift in perception and expectation of those living with disability from those needing our help to a society that looks to them as a further solution to the Kenyan journey.

We need to stop having pity and start giving them dignity. We need to stop giving them handouts and handling them as an NGO project and instead treat them as equal investors in enterprise Kenya.

Positive living

Additionally, we must learn from my good friend Ken. Ken has a young son, who was born with an extra chromosome leading to a condition called down syndrome. What is amazing about Ken and his lovely family is they treat their son as if he doesn’t have the syndrome.

The boy is given the full love and access to every single thing a child should have.

They speak to him normally, treat him normally and then take him for therapy and hospital to make sure his special growth challenges are addressed. Their motto is simple; bring him up to respect and dignify himself beyond the syndrome for we are all greater than the sum of our parts and that greatness is eternal and bright.

Mr Bichachi is a communication consultant; [email protected]