(Graphic image of gold Rotary-gear logo to right of blue text stating "Rotary Word Disability Advocacy".) |
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Addressing human-rights issues for
people with disabilities around the world
Good things are going on all over the world!
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Advocacy Is An Important Part of Kindness |
(World Kindness Day poster stating, "We, the World Kindness Movement team, take a pledge to observe an hour offline in pursuit of kindness, love, and harmony on World Kindness Day. We solemnly render ourselves for service to self, family, and community at large, driven by kindness for all. In the spirit of kindred for fellow humans, we resolute an hour without the very internet that keeps us connected, yet bonded in spirit.")
Kindness is a part of the essence of The Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy as well as Rotary in general. The motto of Rotary is "service above self," and it is in that spirit that the seed of kindness is planted.
For those associated with disability advocacy, kindness can be, for example, helping a person who is struggling with a wheelchair; and, visiting someone who maybe feel isolated because of a disability. Oftentimes for the advocates, though, it is speaking up for accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities. Kindness can also be about bringing awareness to people about disabilities issues, including ableism.
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(Graphic image of gold Rotary gear to right of blue text stating "Rotary World Disability Advocacy, which is above graphic image of numerous people of different colors holding hands while encircling world.)
The Rotary Disabilities Advisory Group - a worldwide movement on behalf of - and by - people with disabilities - has 345 members from 20 countries. They consist of 123 Rotarians and 222 non-Rotarians.
The Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy has 20 active and 10 honorary members.
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(Graphic image of blackboard with white-chalk text stating "Introduce Yourself," and red-heart icon in place of letter "O" in word "yourself.")
Please include the following regarding yourself:
1. Country of residence
2. Role in the society
3. Whether you are a person with a disability, a parent of a child with disability, and/or a diversity- and disability-rights advocate.
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Shackling Women in the Name of Mental Health: Global Movement to #BreakTheChains
Source: Human Rights Watch
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(Photo of a woman sitting on hard, flat surface, with her ankles shackled by a steel chain.)
“I’ve lived in chains for many years. It’s very uncomfortable. I was shackled around the waist and ankle – my stomach used to hurt with the weight of the chain; it was so heavy. I used to cry.” — Akeyo, a woman with a psychosocial disability chained in a faith-healing institution, February 2020, Kenya
Globally, an estimated 792 million people or 1 in 10 people, including 1 in 5 children, have a mental health condition. Gender is a major factor (World Health Organization1; 2019a; 2019b; 2019c). Depression, the leading cause of disability, is reported to be twice as common in women than men.
Discrimination, gender-based violence, poverty, and the pressure of multiple roles are among the most cited risk factors that contribute to poor mental health among women. According to the World Health Organization, women also have high rates of post-traumatic stress, sometimes associated with being survivors of sexual violence.
Women and girls with psychosocial disabilities (mental health conditions) may face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination based on factors including their gender, age, marital status, or ethnicity, as well as disability. They also experience higher rates of poverty, homelessness, and domestic and sexual violence than women without disabilities.
Human Rights Watch investigates and reports on abuses happening in all corners of the world. We are roughly 450 people of 70-plus nationalities who are country experts, lawyers, journalists, and others who work to protect the most at risk, from vulnerable minorities and civilians in wartime, to refugees and children in need. We direct our advocacy towards governments, armed groups and businesses, pushing them to change or enforce their laws, policies and practices. To ensure our independence, we refuse government funding and carefully review all donations to ensure that they are consistent with our policies, mission, and values. We partner with organizations large and small across the globe to protect embattled activists and to help hold abusers to account and bring justice to victims.
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Limiting suffering of people with disabilities while making their voices heard
By Jacqueline Wilson
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(Photo of two women, one of whom is a person with visual disability, standing in front of six levels of shelves containing numerous colorful wicker baskets. Jacklien Wilson, the author of this story who is a person with visual ability, is holding one such basket.)
The disability theme and the call for action are very appropriate for Egypt, which has approximately one million people blind and three million visually impaired. Nearly 60 percent of the visually impaired in Egypt have cataract, which requires a simple surgical operation to correct.
In addition, the need for vocational opportunities for the majority of them require career counseling and guidance. The blind girl in developing countries is considered as a burden by her family.
During her year as club president, Jacklien Wilson, of Rotary Club Alexandria Pharos in District 2451, addressed this issue. The club visited the Utah-based Daughters of Light's house in Alexandria, which focuses on the development of contemporary professional skills /crafts to help their students to discover themselves and to gain a new lease of life.
Together with Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy, we can make a difference to help people with a disability limit their suffering and make their voice heard. Egyptian baskets are world famous.
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What's up - and unseen - at WhatsIn
By Nilesh Singit
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(Exterior facade of the WhatsIn store, with a man opening the front door.)
The Royal National Institute of Blind People's recognizes that everyone should have the right to know what they’re buying. The United-Kingdom-based RNIBP provides a wide range of products for both adults and children who have either sight loss or a vision impairment.
All WhatsIn store devices and tools are designed to help people with vision disabilities to do more at home, work, or at school. Such people will also find a range of book titles in audio, Braille and large print, and leaflets on eye conditions and living with sight loss.
Major food companies must develop a system to help people with visual disabilities to shop more independently. A product-code app for a cell phone could perhaps solve this problem.
To watch a two-minute video that demonstrates the point of the WhatsIn store, click here.
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Nilesh Singit has been instrumental in filing several public- interest actions in India's Mumbai High Court as well as in monitoring due compliance of the orders of the Court. He is also a Zonal Technical Resource Trainer, conducting trainings for National Trust, in Maharashtra and Goa in India.
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From househelp to TV sign-language interpreter
Source: Nairobi Wire
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(Photo of Judy Kihumba demonstrating sign language interpretation.)
Judy Kihumba is a sign-language interpreter and an advocate of maternal mental health and wellness of deaf nursing mums.
A wife and mother of two girls, Ms. Kihumba shares her career path with Sunday Nation.
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Autism is also a disability
By Fergus Murray
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White graphic images\ of a person seated on the symbol for infinity - a sidewards "8." The background consists of parallel vertical banners of equal height and width, with the banner colors, from left to right, as blue, green, and red.)
Autism is, or at least can be, a disability. That’s a legal fact, and it’s a hugely important one in pushing for our needs to be recognised and respected. But it’s also something that many on the spectrum are not entirely comfortable with. To understand why, let’s dig down a bit into what ‘disability’ means, and how that relates to autism.
The Meaning of Disability
The World Health Organisation defines ‘disability’ as ‘any restriction or lack (resulting from any impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being’. There are two bits of that definition which I think are particularly interesting: one, ‘resulting from any impairment’; two, ‘normal for a human being’. The first implies that disability is a direct consequence of an impairment, while the second takes for granted that ‘normalcy’ is both meaningful and desirable. Many involved in Disability Studies activism reject the first, while the second is incompatible with recognition of neurodiversity. We’ll come back to this a bit later.
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Fergus Murray is co-founder of the Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh. He is science teacher on the autistic spectrum, not a disability-studies scholar, psychologist or sociologist, so that’s something to bear in mind. With thanks to Sonya Hallett, Dinah Murray, all at Autscape, and the Autistic-Led Late-Identification Group at Number 6.
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Putting the debate on prize money to bed
Source: Business Times
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(Photo of seven Paralympians, four of whom are in wheelchairs, posing inside one of the venues for the recent Tokyo Paralympic Games.)
As Singapore celebrated the achievements of its athletes in the recent Olympics and Paralympics, observers pointed out the stark disparities in prize money awarded to the country's Olympians and Paralympians, sparking a roaring debate.
Is it fair that a Paralympian receives just one-fifth of the prize money awarded to an Olympian for winning a gold medal?
The disparity goes against the ideals of equality and inclusiveness promoted through sports.
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Marilyn Golden, effective voice for the disabled, dies at 67
By Sam Roberts, New York Times
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(Photo of Marilyn Golden (left) posing with the then-U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (right), a Democrat from Iowa, during his term of office as a U.S. Senator, which ran from 1985 to 2015.
Marilyn Golden was a college student on a summer backpacking trip in Switzerland when she fell from a tree after a rotting limb snapped. Her back was broken. She spent two years of rehabilitation at Houston Medical Center and had used a wheelchair ever since.
“I got radicalized, in a general sense, after I got hurt,” she said.
Ms. Golden would devote the rest of her life to championing civil rights for people with disabilities, all the while rejecting as “ridiculousity” the notion that people like her with disabilities desired or deserved pity.
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Beyond Borders spans two languages, four countries, and eight time zones
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These newsletters contain articles of interest to Rotary leaders across the two - twinned - Zones 28 and 32.
Regular features include reports of significant events in the Zones, appointments of Rotarians to Zone and Rotary International committees and taskforces, outstanding project reports and stories of interest to Rotarians across the two Zones 's six time zones.
Articles for consideration for publication and comments are welcome. Please send to the editor, Past District Governor Ariane Carriere, of Rotary District 7040, at ariane.carriere@rotary7040.com.
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(Graphic image of gold Rotary-gear logo to right of blue text stating "Rotary Word Disability Advocacy)
The deadline for stories and photos/images for our November 2 Newsletter is on Friday, October 29.
Please submit your stories and related photos/images to Newsletter Editor Ralph Hammond either via WhatsApp or at ralph.hammond@verizon.net.
All stories must be in either e-mail, PDF, WhatsApp, or Word format.
All photos/images must be in either GIF, JPG, or PNG format.
Our Newsletter team looks forward to receiving news and information from around the world about people with disabilities, and efforts to help them achieve autonomy and respect.
We encourage you to post your disability-related news, information, events, and activities on our club's WhatsApp page.
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JOIN OUR UPCOMING MEETINGS |
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(Screenshot of online calendar of events, meetings, and activities for Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy.)
With scores of international members, the Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy focuses on coordinating human-rights needs for people with disabilities in countries around the world.
Our club has set up international committees in many countries to, identify needs.
We have created an online calendar (shown) for scheduling for all the meetings being held by our club, group, committees, and subcommittees.
While it does not include Zoom links, it will eventually.
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(Head and shoulders of Ken Masson against background photo of cloudy sky with double rainbow above mountainous Colombian landscape
Our monthly Club meeting - for Club members, only - is held on the third Monday at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern time).
Our monthly Group meeting - for both Club members and non-members - is held on the first Monday at 12:00 noon (Eastern time).
To convert Eastern time to your own time, click here.
To obtain the Zoom login for our Club and/or Group meetings, contact Ken Masson our Club's president for Rotary year 2021-2022, via either WhatsApp or at kennethmasson@gmail.com.
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MISSED OUR LATEST MEETINGS? |
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(Head and shoulders of Nirmala Mehendale, president of the India-based World Kindness Movement)
To watch this 54-minute video of the October 18 meeting of the Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy, click here.
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(Head and shoulders of guest speaker Anne Oyoo, who runs the Kenya-based Clubfoot Society of Kenya.)
To watch this 68-minute video of the October 4 meeting of Rotary Disabilities Advisory Group. click here.
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(Head and shoulders of guest speaker Ralph Hammond, as he addresses "How to Apply for a Rotary Grant."
To watch this 65-minute video of the September 30 meeting of the Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy, click here.
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(Head and shoulders of guest speaker Carolina Barrios, as she shares her experience with"How Successful Rotary Grants Work.")
To watch this 53-minute video of the September 21 meeting of the Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy, click here.
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(Screenshot of top half of home page of blogsite for Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy.)
Our club is dedicated to the human rights of people with disabilities.
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(Graphic image of numerous people of different colors holding hands while encircling the world.)
- October 19, 2021
- October 12, 2021 - No issue
- October 5, 2021 - No Issue
- September 28, 2021 - No issue
- September 21, 2021 - No issue
- September 14, 2021
- September 7, 2021
- August 31, 2021
- August 24, 2021
- August 17, 2021
- August 10, 2021
- August 3, 2021
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WE FOLLOW ROTARY'S FOUR-WAY TEST |
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(Graphic image of gold Rotary-gear logo to right of blue text stating "Rotary Word Disability Advocacy.")
Our Rotary Club follows Rotary International's Four-Way Test, a non-partisan and non-sectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships. The Test has been translated into more than 100 languages, and Rotarians recite it at Club meetings:
Of the things we think, say, or do
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Is it the truth?
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Is it fair to all concerned?
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Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
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Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
To learn more on Rotary's Guiding Principles, click here.
To contact Ken Masson, our Club's 2021-2022 president, click here.
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