7/31/2019 Gambian Approach to Disability: Partha Sahoo
1/2
iVolunteer OverseasD-134, First Floor, East of Kailash
New Delhi-110065
Tel.: +91 11-26217459
Email : [email protected]
Website: www.ivoindia.org
If they can do it, so can IGambian approach to disability
By: Partha Sahoo, VSO Volunteer, India
Gambia is the smallest country in West Africa, with a population
of 1.6
million. About 16% of the total population is disabled. Disabled
people
exist in every society and every community world wide, despite
the levelof independence and wealth. Any one can become disabled at
any time
but poor and marginalized people are most likely to become
victims.
The voice of a VSO volunteer..Partha, an Indian volunteer was
working as an Organizational Development Advisor for two
different DPOs, the Gambia Association of the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing (GADHOH) and the
Gambia Association of the Physically Disabled (GAPD).
I worked in advocacy, Media Advocacy, Organization Capacity
Building, management training, aswell as fundraising. I have been
working since 2005, and really it was a great experience working
in
this country, although it has limited resources and as well
there were many issues to be
addressed. At first, I found it very difficult to work with
them. I started working with the hearing
impaired people. When I first did workshops on HIV/AIDS for
these people, it was very difficult to
explain about these sensitive issues through Gambian Sign
Language, so local interpreters were
used.
The World Disability Day, 3 December, is a day each year set
aside for disability awareness and
issues. Here in The Gambia, there is a committee set up by GFD
(Gambian Federation of the
Disabled) to work preparing and organizing activities for this
day each year. I was on this
committee with the specific role of Media Advocacy.
For instance, I worked with GAPD in this role, providing
training in management and capacity
building issues. Two newspaper articles were printed in Gambian
newspapers for awareness on
disability, helping increase networking possibilities for
members of GAPD and GADHOH, and
securing help for Wheelchairs for the NRC.
The most important role I had to play was that of training
myself out of a job here. I looked
forward to the day when I would .leave and the Gambians would
work on the Gambian situation
helping fellow Gambians. They can say If they can do it, so can
I
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7/31/2019 Gambian Approach to Disability: Partha Sahoo
2/2
iVolunteer OverseasD-134, First Floor, East of Kailash
New Delhi-110065
Tel.: +91 11-26217459
Email : [email protected]
Website: www.ivoindia.org
Gambia and DisabilityThe Gambias National Disability Survey
compiled by the Government of the Gambia with UNICEF
support in 1998 was used as a key background document and a
series of individual needs
assessments exercises we carried out. The survey showed that
24.7% of people with disabilities
questioned were unable to participate in family activities such
as praying, going to the market and
caring for children. 21.1% were unable to participate in social
gatherings. This is within the contextof a society where everyone
is expected to take part in family and community activities. There
are
deeply entrenched attitudes about disabled people and the causes
of disability, which perpetuate
their social exclusion.
Currently health and social welfare services in the Gambia, and
information about them, is
extremely limited. Services provided by the Department of Social
Welfare are limited to Banjul and
surrounding areas. There is only one provider of assistive aids,
such as wheelchairs and artificial
limbs in the country, National Rehabilitation Centre, which is
also based in Banjul. The limited
services available are therefore inaccessible for most of the
rural population. The majority of roads
are very poor and donkey carts are used as the main form of
transport in rural areas. Even giventhese conditions, the costs of
travelling from rural areas to the capital are prohibitively high
and
those that can afford to travel are discouraged from doing so.
Many commercial drivers are
reluctant to carry people with disabilities, especially
wheelchair users because of the logistical
difficulties.
Policy and information workshops run by local organizations,
government structures, and
international bodies rarely make provisions to promote access
and participation for people with
disabilities.
Access to information is also extremely limited given the range
of communication challenges facedby people with disabilities. Few
policy documents are translated into Braille or recorded on
audiotape. There are only 4 trained sign language interpreters
in the country with only limited
training. In rural areas radio is often the only source of
information, which excludes deaf people.
DPOs have traditionally operated independently of each other.
Yet, there is huge potential for
these organisations to work together and to increase the level
of support they offer to members
and non-members alike. The Gambia Federation of the Disabled
(GFD), and umbrella body for the
DPOs, has existed for many years, but has not yet been
successful in representing the Gambian
disability sector as a single voice.
