What is the focus of your poster?
My focus is on the need for people to liberate their minds and to recognize the need for people to develop and change the way they think, perceive or make assumptions about disability and disabled people.
Why is this focus an important issue to consider?
Disabled people are at the heart of the African model of disability. Disabled people are a part of families, communities and societies at large. There is a connection, between the self and the collective.
Equality, as a project of accommodating, has been understood in terms of race, gender and disability. However, it is yet to change or transform the way people think. Factors like being ‘interchangeable’ and ‘interdependent’ influence society and the development of disabled peoples’ fight to be incorporated and accepted in civil society.
What is the most important message/conclusion you would like to share with us?
There is a strong connection between the individual (self) and the community (collective). I advocate for a change in the way people, society and governments perceive disability. A revival of the collective consciousness makes way for a sense of belonging. Such revival also welcomes the interconnectedness that communities have to offer to each other. Change is taking place, but it remains our collective responsibility to ensure that policies are implemented to improve the lives and perceptions of disabled people. The goal is the integration of people with disabilities into the fabric of our society as equal partners.
Human rights shift the focus from disability alone. It locates notions of disability in the wider social context of diversity. Strategies, such as the revival of a collective consciousness and collective action will ensure implementation of this shift of disability as diversity.
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