By Fatou Saho
The Reuel Foundation staged a forum (Tuesday) to increase public awareness on dissability issues.
This was the second of its kind since the inception of the foundation, which was established in honor of a child who had a genetic disorder that affected the movement of her muscles.
The campaign began with a walk accompanied by the police band from the Africell building along Kairaba Avenue to the westfield monument with students and participants carrying tags that read: “Children with dissabilities should not be hidden, inclusive education bright future for all, support inclusion end stigma, and a host of others.”
The founder, Sera Gillen, said their objective is to ensure that every child with disability has access to education, career opportunities and health care.
She explained: “When you have a disability sometimes you are limited by the things you can do. But you can do whatever you want. So how do we make the things that you want accessible for you with the limitations that are available? That is what we are trying to do and encouraging them for all the various things that they want to do.”
The campaign, which ended in form of a dialogue between stakeholders, students and other paticipants, was endorsed by some parlimentarians who had also participated in the walk to strengthen advocacy on dissability issues.
Responding to a request of having a vocational skills center for differently abled persons in the country, the vice chair person of the Assembly Committee on Health, Modou Lamin Bah, assured the students that they will take it up and see how best they can address that need including other concerns that were raised.
Meanwhile, the law that is meant to protect the rights and freedom of the disabled, is still yet to be implemented since its enactment in 2021.
