Persons With Disabilities within Wum town, have challenged inhabitants of the locality as they came out massively to keep the surroundings of the Divisional Delegation of Social Affairs Menchum, clean.
The exercise was appreciated by many as they learned the lesson of contributing to nation building no matter the disability we have.
Persons with disabilities in Wum, led by their president, Mr. Elvis Kambele, have used this opportunity to call on city dwellers to consider them in whatever they do. To him, the clean up campaign exercise has given them a fresh impetus as far as their plan of action is concerned.
It should be noted here that in life, people are born in different ways. Some are healthy while others came unhealty, which may be caused by different factors and can lead to the person's disability. Being disabled in life does not mean you are unable to do something to achieve your own desired objectives, dreams and goals in life, instead it is just a matter of accepting and be proud of who you are and have faith, courage, patience and self motivation to be able to face the obstacles or challenges that may come on your path.
Most people look at those with disability in different ways as if they are not part of the human race, this ideology and wrong concepts make a lot of disable people see themselves as being regardless and discriminated in the society. Their capabilities and potentiality as useful citizens in the community are often umderated.
However, those with disabilities need a special attention that will enable them to utilize and show out the talents they possess. But if they are not considered, it would be difficult for people to acknowledge their pontials particularly in the school’s and society.
Yes, this is how we should see the disabled people in our society. Gone are the days when people with disability were thought to be a nuisance and an object of pity to our society. The notion that their work was only to beg by the street corners or when they were not allowed to borrow money from financial institutions etc. is so backwards. Disabled people in society have come forth to let the society know that there is nothing wrong with them, that with a bit of empowerment and acceptance they can do as well as any other person. When educated, they can perform well if not better than any other person – graduate, get jobs and fend for their families. When empowered, they can operate businesses just like any other businessman/woman.
This is well demonstrated by PWD–a group of person's with disabilities in Wum. This group was consists of 60 members some of whom have received financial and logistic support from the Ministry of Social Affairs through Wum Council. This has made it easy for them to access financial services and their businesses are doing quite well. The businesses range from bicycles repair shop, tomatoes selling shops, rearing of livestock, to baking of small cakes etc. The group has members with various disabilities–some have mobility impairment, speech impairment, hearing impairment, while others are visually inspired. This group holds meetings once a week on Aghem country Sunday and have good credit history. Some of the challenges the group say they face include:
- They are left out when it comes to NGOs and government programs. This is particularly ironical since these programs are meant for the empowering of persons with disabilities in the community.
- They are still looked upon by part of society as people who are not productive.
- They are unable to walk long distances especially to the special programs which are usually organised by the government and NGOs and held in the cities and town area.
Persons with disabilities Group was formed so as to enable its members fight poverty as the level of poverty among them was rising, they also wanted to form a village savings bank to enable them save and access financial aid, they wanted to start businesses and support each other so as to survive and they wanted to earn their daily bread and to educate their children so that their future may be bright. Elvis Kambele, who is disabled and a President of Persons with disabilities Group had this to say:
“I have accepted the situation and strive to work hard since I believe disability is not inability. I can bring food home and fend for my family unlike some people who say they are “normal” and cannot take care of their family due to alcohol abuse.”
In Cameroon, women and children with disability have been more vulnerable to sexual violence, with children being more in danger of rape and verbal abuse by people who deem them lesser human beings. One could hear them saying that “the society perceives disabled women as a bad omen. There are cases where women who gave birth to disabled children were divorced, and also that some families tend to lock their disabled children indoors to hide them from society. These children or persons with disability are sometimes not allowed to mingle with their age mates, go to school, access medical facilities and they also face attitudinal barriers from society etc. Sometimes some are forced to live in unhygienic conditions as no one is taking care of them. In some instances, persons with mental disability were tied up in a room or a tree. To date, society has not fully accepted people with disability. This is however gradually changing with more campaigns advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, which are not only done by foundations but also by churches, schools and the society at large."
Mr. Elvis Kambele and his group have used this come out to educate the rest of the society that disability is not inability, and that what they need from the society is :
- A sense of belonging and acceptance in society,
- That the society focuses on their abilities and not disabilities,
- To be included in decision making, more so when the decision made is about their lives,
- Patience and tolerance, Guidance and counselling, And empowerment, not pity.
It is very evident that Disability is not inability. Let us all play our part and empower the disabled in our society and help eradicate the stigma that is associated with disability and poverty. So that we can all have an inclusive and equal society.
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