By Mohammed Yousuf for TwoCircles.net,
Holiday season is upon us…we have just been through the month of fasting. It was amazing to see so many of us glued to disciplining ourselves and trying to do our bit in helping and caring for others. We prayed and paid our dues in charity.It was also interesting to see so many causes and charities being supported by us, there were appeals and requests to fund them—almost every night there were requests and appeals that came from small and big charities, on small and big projects. The requests were to raise funds for calamities, tragedies and natural disasters in different parts of the world.
Earthquakes, famines, droughts, cyclones and hurricanes and so many others made it to the cut and required our attention. However, to the best of my recollection, none were targeted towards disability development and inclusion, towards the empowerment of people with disabilities around us and around the world. They are 1 billion strong and are living a life of despair and disconnect; their sufferings seems to have no ending.
At least 350 million persons with disabilities live in areas where any of the disability relatedservices are not available
At least 25% of population in a given countryis adversely affected by the presence of some form of disability
As many as 80%of them live in isolated rural areas in the developing countries
Of the 105 to 115 million children not in school, 30 to 40 million are with disabilities
$1.71 – $2.23 trillion are lost from the global GPD because of disability
We are thankful to many of you who have been supportive of EquallyAble Foundation. Together we have made a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. But we have got a long way to go. One organization will not be enough to solve the tragedy of a billion people around the world. Their issues are complicated and different; they span from education to equipment, transportation to employment, and housing to healthcare. We need more organizations to get engaged in this cause, and do their bit. It takes more than a village to make a difference, for a community that is as large as the inhabitants of India.
However, the 1 billion or so are not on our radar. They don’t form or fit calamities such as hurricanes or famines—but their issues are not going away. People in hurricanes or faminesare getting rehabilitated because of the relief work undertaken by so many organizations. The issues of people with disabilitieswill not unless we think and do something to mainstream them and bring them into the fabric of our society.
Their tragedies can be transformed into triumphs if we think and include them in our game play.