Addressing human-rights issues for
people with disabilities around the world
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Good activity all around the world
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Welcome, new members of the newly-chartered Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy. And thanks for your keen interest in serving the disability fraternity.
Kindly introduce yourself to me, including but not limited to your county of residence, your role in the society, whether it is a person with a disability, parent of a child with disability, a diversity- and disability-rights advocate, etc.
Please send your information to me either via WhatsApp at @Ken Masson or via text at +254 795 517108.
We are now up to 109 members from 18 countries. The breakdown is 49 Rotarians, 3 Rotaractors, and 57 non-Rotarians. We are looking for other countries to join us. Please encourage community and national leaders to join our Club
I want to update you on our new Club. As you may know, we formed the Club with a mission "to address human rights issues for people with disabilities around the world."
Disability Advocacy Groups such as your own have been formed worldwide, to identify the needs in each represented country. Our Club will take on several projects each year. Once our Club has agreed to take on a project, it will coordinate with Rotary clubs in the county where there is a need as well as with non-governmental and non-profit organizations, government officials, and companies, to work toward meeting the need.
Our Club has a Board of Directors, which will determine whether or not our Club should take a project. Each Group will need to determine what project it would like to do, and complete and submit a project application to our Board, which can only be done by a Rotarian who is a member of that Group.
Again, each project application must be submitted by a Rotary member. Non-members cannot apply.
I will be sending each Group the form that needs to be completed and submitted to me. While some projects will be approved, others may not receive approval. I will also send out a guide, to help Groups determine and understand what sorts of projects should be submitted.
While the details of this application process are still being worked out, I want each Group to understand the general process our Club will follow.
Thank you,
Ken Masson
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Message from Mystery Person and Location |
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We need mindset change. The system will never understand people with disabilities unless those people bring viable suggestions to the discussion table. What is discussed in roundtable meetings when persons with disability meet with decision-makers? Do they just speak of the problems and challenges facing them, and claim that someone else should come up with solutions? |
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What if they went to a roundtable meeting with suggestions? For example: instead of waiting to have elaborate integrated systems that will take ages to implement, the education system can take advantage of existing technology and introduce digitized learning in every school for persons with vision and hearing impairment. It might not meet the required threshold, but it will also improve access to education.
Some people wait for so long to enroll their children in school because special schools are so far apart. The real questions are: Is it a necessity for access to education?; and can we in small ways fight for inclusivity in mainstream learning?
This will also help other learners understand better people living with disability. While change takes time, small milestones can be achieved and grown to bigger ones. There is need for proper strategies in presenting requirements, to address needs for persons with disability.
Progress has been made thus far. Most buildings are now accessible, institutions are hiring sign- language interpreters, and Braille use is recognized. There is need to build on this.
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Response from Uganda to Mystery Person
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I believe that your original thinking has a lot of validity. And we need to further explore it. And I am anxious to hear more about the idea of reaching out to and collaborating with the organization you mentioned. I believe that people like yourself and organizations willing to collaborate is the key to this mission being successful. Thanks. |
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Welcome to the DARE Academy, G3ict’s Digital Accessibility Education Program |
If you are interested in getting certified as an accessibility professional, you are welcome to benefit from our recently launched DARE Academy Scholarship Fund.
This is a program dedicated to opening new potentials for persons with disabilities who are interested in and passionate about advocating for digital accessibility, and to get certified as professionals in this field.
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Welcome to the World Kindness Movement |
The World Kindness Movement, based in India, is a worldwide organization dedicated to promoting kindness. You are welcomed to share a story - especially one about kindness and people with disabilities. Currently, the site has more than 100,000 stories - heading toward one million.
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Rotary District 7910 in Massachusetts, USA, under which our Club operates, recently joined the World Kindness Movement.
In order to help our Club's Groups worldwide to understand, support, share, and learn from each other, District 7910 has a scheduled an online meeting for Thursday, August 5, 2021 from 9.30 to 10:30 p.m. (Perth, Australia time).
To convert Perth's time zone to your own time zone, click here.
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Focusing on National Council for Persons with Disability ID cards |
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Our Group in Kenya, under the leadership of Rotarian Stephen Marsha, is now at 22 strong, with all six Rotarians focused on a goal of national disability certification, where needed.
The keys to success are the following:
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Developing strategies similar to those learned through End Polio Now, the worldwide effort to eradicate poliovirus, of which Rotary is a key player.
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Encouraging partnerships between private citizens, government leaders, local non-government organizations, and local Rotary clubs in the targeted area. Other countries are beginning to decide on projects that - as with Kenya- from which we all can learn and emulate.
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It's all in the translation |
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Eduardo Werneck, a past district governor in Brazil, has his Group of seven members, including five Rotarians, shifting into higher gear.
A very special part of that effort is to translate our Club's weekly newsletter into Portuguese, the primary language of Brazil.
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Lots of ideas were shared at the last Group meeting, and a focus for the Group's first project may shortly evolve. |
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Celebrate Americans with Disabilities Act, July 29, Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
Even though the Americans with Disabilities Act became effective on July 26, 1990, in the U.S., accessibility is still a far cry from inclusion. While U.S. legislators do deserve credit for establishing a base standard, keep in mind this is a minimum standard and other countries have promoted even higher standards.
After more than 30 years, improvements continue. For some people, though, the base standard has yet to be achieved.
As Rotarians, one of our Four-Way Test questions, “Is it fair to all concerned?” should always be our measurable goal. Our worldwide sharing is certainly an important tool as technology, knowledge, and awareness continue to improve - and as we learn from each other in all nations.
Several important ads spotlighting people with disabilities keep popping up in television coverage of the Summer Olympics in Japan. All of us need to encourage Rotarians to keep that positive message moving forward. We can help you locate Rotary clubs near you, to make this mission succeed.
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Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy |
By Rowena Portch
My husband is deaf and I am blind. One day, we were at the movie theater watching The Matrix Reloaded. It was about the time when the Oracle was speaking to Neo when the sound cut out. The crowd was furious as this was the pinnacle of the movie. Many of them walked out. I nudged my husband and asked him to speak the words out loud, explaining that the sound had cut out. He started whispering the words, not wanting to disturb the other patrons. A man turned around and asked my husband to speak louder so everyone could hear.
My husband is very skilled at reading lips. He spoke the words the Oracle spoke without a hitch. I always knew he was good at reading lips, but after the 10-minute scene, he caught every word. Even the crowd was impressed. The sound eventually came back on and we all enjoyed the rest of the film.
In the end, nearly every person who stuck around long enough to experience my husband’s mad skills came to thank him personally. We all received free movie tickets and never missed a beat.
I cannot describe the pride I felt for him nor the gratitude toward the patrons who took the time to acknowledge how special he is.
Rowena Portch, a multi-award-winning author for more than 33 years, is best known for her Spirian Saga, an eight-book series. While she lost her vision to Retinitis Pigmentosa, her passion for writing stories never diminished. Her blind characters help to educate others about the mad skills blind people have, and to offer an insight into how they live their lives. In Rowena's spare time, she volunteers as an educator to blind students and records books for Learning Ally. She and her husband live in Colorado, United States of America.
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To submit your story for an upcoming issue of our Club's newsletter, contact Editor Ralph Hammond at ralph.hammond@verizon.net.
Ralph is the following: a past district governor of Rotary District 7910 in Massachusetts, USA; a past president and a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Bedford in District 7910; executive secretary and an honorary member of the Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy; and a founding member of District 7910's Disabilities Advisors Group.
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The Rotary Club of World Disability Advocacy meets the third Monday of the month at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern time). To convert Eastern time to your own time, click here.
To watch the video of our Club's inaugural meeting on July 8, 2021, either click here or on the image at left.
To obtain the Zoom login for one of our monthly Club meetings, contact Ken Masson, our Club's president for Rotary year 2021-2022, via either WhatsApp at @Ken Masson or text message at +254 795 517108.
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