Bringing them out of the margins; responding to the vulnerability of women with disabilities.

Women in Kenya face certain challenges that can be attributed to cultural constructions held by the majority of tribes in Kenya. Kenyans will concur that these cultural constructions dictate that a woman should come second to a man in sexual relationships as well as the family. This renders women especially those that are not empowered with information, powerless to make any decisions that pertain to their lives. This incapacity to make decisions extend even to their own reproductive health where in extreme cases they have to ask for permission to go to clinics and cannot negotiate safe sex as the man is in charge.

Globally, HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age. Women are twice at risk of getting infected with HIV and AIDS. Research by Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008-2009 indicates that the adult prevalence of HIV and AIDS among women stands at 8% while adult prevalence of HIV and AIDS among men stands at 4.3%.  

It is against such alarming figures that Action Network for the Disabled with the financial support of Positive Action for Children Fund is bringing together women with disabilities to mainstream them into the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Fighting HIV and AIDS without including women with disabilities is like going to war without finding out where all your enemies are hiding. Many people are not aware that persons with disabilities also have sexual urges and are sexually active. This means that persons with disabilities are not considered and included in HIV and AIDS campaigns and policies. In addition to that, women with disabilities are vulnerable to rape; a factor which exposes them to being infected by rapists and defilers and in turn infects anyone whom they have sexual contact with. Due to stigma and lack of knowledge on the needs of persons with disabilities, health care facilities do not adequately respond to the health concerns of persons with disabilities by giving them specialized care.

Under the project; Prevention of HIV and AIDS among women with disabilities in Kenya, ANDY will be holding a series of talk forums with women with disabilities starting Tuesday 1^st November, 2011. The women will be advised by health care experts on sexual reproductive choices and prevention of HIV and AIDS. Expectant disabled women will be encouraged to attend clinics to prevent transmission of HIV and AIDS from mother to child. Professional health care workers will also be invited to workshops to be informed on how to best accommodate the needs of women with disabilities while delivering health care services.

This project is supported by;

PRESS RELEASE BY DISABILITY CAUCUS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONSTITUTION ON RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

PRESS RELEASE BY DISABILITY CAUCUS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONSTITUTION ON RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

1. Constitution of Kenya amendment bill 2011.

We note with concern that the proposed constitution of Kenya amendment bill 2011 interferes with the rights of person with disabilities. This comes soon after the enactment of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 which provides numerous gains for persons with disabilities. Some of the gains that Kenyans overwhelmingly voted for include: non discrimination as provided for in article 27 (4) and (5), recognition of Kenya Sign Language, Braille and other formats of communication, an expansive bill of rights as well as affirmative action measures to ensure representation and participation of persons with disabilities in the political and electoral processes.

We note that the intended revisions will adversely affect representation by persons with disabilities, youth and workers by amending article 90 of the constitution to delete article 97 1 (c) and 98 1 (b) (c) and (d), thereby negating the principles of fair representation and proportional representation.

Article 90 provides a basis for representation for persons with disabilities as provided for in article 97 1 (C). Consequently, deleting this clause from article 90 takes away the rights of persons with disabilities to participate in the national assembly. The proposed amendments on article 90 do not provide clear guidelines for proportional representation by party lists.

What parliament needs to do is to fast track enactment of enabling legislation for persons with disabilities as opposed to taking away their right to be represented in parliament.

We wish to remind the Executive and Members of Parliament that only two persons with disabilities have been nominated to parliament in the entire 48 years of independence. The constitution of Kenya 2010 establishes a framework through which persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups are assured of representation. Achieving equality for women at the expense of persons with disabilities is indeed unacceptable and unconstitutional. Even as parliament debates the 2/3^rd gender principle, it should also provide directions on how women with disabilities will be included. Parliament needs to look at issues of equality from a broader perspective than gender parity and equity as proposed by the minister for Justice Hon. Mutula Kilonzo.

We recommend that the bill should not be passed since it takes away the participation and representation rights of persons with disabilities.

We wish to remind the executive and parliament that the constitution of Kenya 2010 recognizes the sovereignty of the people. As such, there is need for wider consultations before such retrogressive amendments are put before Parliament.

2. Retirement age for persons with disabilities:

It is indeed very sad to note that the right of persons with disabilities to work and employment is put at stake by the manner in which the government is treating the issue of the retirement age of persons with disabilities.

The parliamentary proceedings of 19^th October 2011 clearly demonstrated that there is a huge gap in policy and practice in Kenya. We recognize and commend the Members of Parliament who clearly demonstrated their concern for persons with disabilities and respect for a just society devoid of discrimination. These include the mover of the question Hon. Erastus Mureithi MP for Ndaragwa, Hon, and Aluoch Olago MP for Kisumu Town, Hon. Ekwee Ethuro MP for Turkana Central, Hon, Gitobu Imanyara MP Imenti Central, nominated MP Hon. Millie Odhiambo and the Hon. Speaker for supporting the voiceless.

We wish to notify parliament that the participation of persons with disabilities in education, employment and development in general is hampered by social, attitudinal and physical barriers. The barriers lead to late entry into the education system, minimal transition in education, late entry into employment and limited career choices for persons with disabilities. This is the premise upon which the Minister of State in the ministry of Public Service Hon. Dalmas Otieno extended the retirement age for persons with disabilities from 60 to 65 in March 2009.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, of which Kenya is party, requires that the state should ensure reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities at the workplace. It is therefore disheartening for the Assistant Minister in the Ministry of State for Public Service Major. Sugow to perpetuate discrimination and impunity. The Assistant Minister should know that human rights are inalienable, inter-dependent and indivisible. It is therefore improper for the assistant minister to suspend the realization of certain rights.

As correctly pointed out by the speaker, the Constitution of Kenya 2010 provides under article 2 (4) that any law that is inconsistent with the constitution is void and invalid.

We remind the Assistant Minister that the Persons with Disabilities Act of 2003 only provides for a minimum retirement age. Additionally, the Minister of state through a press statement on 20^th March 2009 declared that, “persons with disabilities can work to the age of 65 if they so wish.”

We recommend that those persons with disabilities who have recently been retired be reinstated, and those in the process of retirement continue to work until this is conclusively deliberated upon. We also call upon the relevant law review organs to fast track the enactment of the Persons with Disabilities Amendment Bill 2011.

We also call upon the Attorney General to expeditiously give counsel on retirement for persons with disabilities. Further, we request MPs to continue supporting the noble cause of ensuring that the rights of persons with disabilities are respected, promoted and upheld.

Action Network for the Disabled is a member of this caucus and our CEO participated in the preparation of the press release and was amongst the people who read it to the media today at Safari Club Hotel

Why I’ve become a friend of ANDY

Here our VSO volunteer Gareth Wilce tells us why he's signed up to be the first member of ANDY's new Friends of Scheme.

The easy explanation is that I’ve had the enormous pleasure of working with this very different, dynamic organization for 12 months. I’ve seen the impact ANDY’s programmes are having, and have been privileged to support its growth into a leading voice for young persons with disabilities in Kenya.

The World Health Organisation estimates that 15% of any population is living with a disability. In Kenya that’s nearly 6m people, the majority of whom are trying to break free from a cycle of poverty and dependence in the face of stigmatizing cultural attitudes and inaccessible basic services like education and healthcare. The best way to describe the challenge faced by person with disabilities in Kenya is to say that to the politicians, the employers, the banks and the public institutions, they are at the back of a very long queue.

Me with the boss, Fredrick Ouko (L!)

I’ve seen how well ANDY is developing its programmes to reduce stigma and close the gap by giving them the same opportunities as other Kenyans to take control of their own lives. ANDY’s programmes help them access employment opportunities or credit for businesses, sports sessions and essential information about health in a format they can understand. I’ve also seen ANDY’s leadership within the disability sector; the profile and potential of young persons with disabilities like our executive director, Fredrick Ouko, challenging myths and stereotypes about the capacity of person with disability on the national and international stage.

I’ve been to Kiengu, a village north of Mount Kenya and seen how one of the young persons with disability ANDY has trained in advocacy work is passing on her knowledge and passion to a 40-strong group of other persons with disability. This is resulting in real improvements in people’s lives; like Daudi Manjuri Kanga, who before the group’s intervention was being denied his constitutional right to an education, and Mary Kangai, who had been denied a national ID card – basically an essential to access anything here in Kenya - because her disability prevented her giving fingerprint samples.

But the real reason ANDY needs friends like me is for the unglamorous things; the small investments which big donors forget need to be made. Donors give restricted funding; meaning every shilling in the budget is accounted for in the programme. Organisations working at the heart of communities need some reserve money, to have the flexibility to give people the support they really need, to try new things and also to protect the organisation from events out of their control – like the global recession which has disrupted so many donors and programmes.

One of our beneficiaries George in his workshop

 

 

 

Some of the jewellery George creates from cowbone

Thanks to a donation from a friend in the UK earlier this year, ANDY has been able to give a hearing-impaired man batteries for his hearing aid so he could attend a job interview. ANDY has also been able to give volunteer outreach workers bus fare to inform disability self-help groups about their new rights under the Kenyan constitution. This ‘unrestricted’ funding also helped pay for extra memory and new anti-virus software for the cyber café’s computers so that we can continue to grow this sustainable source of income.
Its working; profits are up by 5000% per cent since March this year.

A water business in Kibera started with a loan from ANDY

The more ‘Friends’ ANDY has, the more small-scale, income-generating activities it could develop in its new resource centre in Africa’s most famous and reportedly largest slum, Kibera. This could stop persons with disabilities wasting valuable time and money travelling miles across Nairobi to get their wheelchairs, hearing aids and walking aids repaired. It could help set up workshops (the vocational ones, not the training methods favoured by development agencies) providing opportunities for persons with disabilities to learn a skill and earn a wage. Or the contributions could help send delegates to events like the World Youth Leadership Summit going on in Nairobi now, or simply provide the bus fare for someone to get across the city so they can attend one of our programmes. Right now ANDY could do with the cash to buy a second TV for the cyber café, so it can utilise both the Playstation 2s donated by supporters in the UK this summer. This isn’t the sort of thing ANDY can ask Comic Relief, DfID, USAID or the Open Society Institute for! As little as six dollars (the equivalent of the cheapest monthly rents available in Kibera) can have a huge impact; paying for the medical assessment required to register as a person with a disability, a pre-requisite for accessing the tax relief and other services provided by the government.

A deaf intern gains valuable work experience in ANDY's cyber cafe

If you’re like me and don’t want to simply be paying the travel expenses or infrastructure costs of a huge charity, and are also concerned about the governance practices of the smaller organisations you could donate to, then becoming a Friend of ANDY is the solution.

If you want to become a Friend of ANDY, email info@andy.or.ke. This is a growing organisation which will no doubt be using our money wisely to make a real difference to the lives of some of the world’s most disadvantaged people as it grows over the next decade.

ANDY sports programmes

ANDY welcomes any contributions to support our work. You can give some of the most disadvantaged people in the world the opportunity to gain control of their own lives; to give them mobility, confidence, basic health information or even further their education for as little as 1000 Kenyan Shillings (about 7pounds sterling or 10 US dollars) a year. These are typical ways we will use the funding received from Friends’ contributions:
 





Item                           Amount in Ksh                             Amount in dollars
Wheel chair                    7, 500                                                    75
Orthopaedic crutches     1,200 per pair                                      12
Walking sticks                450                                                      4.5
Elbow crutches               900                                                        9
Shoulder crutches          900                                                        9
Hearing batteries          700                                                        7

Medical assessment    600                                                         6
(required to register for tax exemption and government services)

Publication of mini         200                                                       2
self help books

Travel to attend s          200                                                        2
ports programme

College scholarship per term per one person
Nairobi university        50,000                                               500
Kenya institute
of management             33,000                                               330
Industrial rehabilitation
Centre                           10, 000                                                100

Disability Etiquette

I started working in a disabled person’s organization a few months ago, when I came in I was loaded with almost every negative opinion that the society has regarding persons with disabilities. To me, disabled persons were very unfortunate fellows whom I pitied very much, they were angry all the time and what they needed was a few coins dropped in their begging bowls. Thanks to ANDY, they have managed to transform my skewed opinions to accept facts about persons with disabilities.
I can strongly affirm that persons with disabilities are first of all people with human rights just like everybody else. They have different skills and capabilities and they should be appreciated as productive members of the society.
During my learning period, I made a few mistakes in how I handled persons with disability regarding my disability etiquette. Out of these mistakes I learnt People with disabilities expect equal treatment, not special treatment. However one must be respectful and considerate of them.
Below are basic do’s and don’ts of disability etiquette
Do’s
-When talking with a person with a disability address the person directly
-If an interpreter is present, speak to the person who has scheduled the appointment, not to the interpreter.
-Use a normal tone of voice when extending a verbal welcome.
-Tap the person on the shoulder or wave your hand to get the attention of a person with a hearing impairment. Look directly at the person and speak clearly, naturally and slowly to establish if the person can read lips. Not all persons with hearing impairments can lip-read. Those who can will rely on facial expression and other body language to help in understanding. Show consideration by placing yourself facing the light source and keeping your hands, cigarettes and food away from your mouth when speaking
-When greeting a person with a severe loss of vision, always identify yourself and others who may be with you. For Example: on my left is Rita
-Listen attentively when you're talking to a person who has speech impairment. Keep your manner encouraging rather than correcting.
-When you have met with a person with disability, it is polite and appropriate to shake hands. This is because people with limited hand use or who wear an artificial limb can usually shake hands. Shaking hands with the left hand is acceptable. For those who cannot shake hands, touch the person on the shoulder or arm to welcome and acknowledge their presence. Treat adults in a manner befitting adults:
-Call a person by his or her first name only when extending that familiarity to all others present.
-Respect everyone’s personal space
-Offer assistance in a dignified manner with sensitivity and respect. Be prepared to have the offer declined. Do not proceed to assist if your offer to assist is declined. If the offer is accepted, listen to or accept instructions.
-Allow a person with a visual impairment to take your arm (at or about the elbow.) This will enable you to guide rather than propel or lead the person.
-Offer to hold or carry packages in a welcoming manner. Example: "May I help you with your package?"
-Make sure the place where you plan to hold meetings or just do some catching up or make social visits are accessible by checking the following:
-Are there handicap parking spaces available and nearby?
-Is there a ramp or step-free entrance?
-Are there accessible restrooms?
-Does the building have an elevator if you are not meeting ground floor?
-Are there any water fountains and telephones at the proper height for a person in a wheelchair to use?
If your hands are tied in regard to accessibility of the area, inform the person about the barrier prior to the meeting and offer to make arrangements for an alternative venue.


Don’ts
-Do not address him through his/her guide or companion
-Always maintain eye contact with the person, not the interpreter.
-Do not raise your voice unless requestedTap the person on the shoulder or wave your hand to get the attention of a person with a hearing impairment. Look directly at the person and speak clearly, naturally and slowly to establish if the person can read lips. Not all persons with hearing impairments can lip-read. Those who can will rely on facial expression and other body language to help in understanding. Show consideration by placing yourself facing the light source and keeping your hands, cigarettes and food away from your mouth when speaking
-Shouting won't help. Written notes may.
-When talking with a person in a wheelchair for more than a few minutes, use a chair, whenever possible, in order to place yourself at the person's eye level to facilitate conversation.
-Exercise patience rather than attempting to speak for a person with speech difficulty. When necessary, ask short questions that require short answers or a nod or a shake of the head. Never pretend to understand if you are having difficulty doing so. Repeat what you understand, or incorporate the interviewee's statements into each of the following questions. The person's reactions will clue you in and guide you to understanding.
-Do not shout at a hearing impaired person. Shouting distorts sounds accepted through hearing aids and inhibits lip reading. Do not shout at a person who is blind or visually impaired -- he or she can hear you!
-Never patronize people using wheelchairs by patting them on the head or shoulder
-When addressing a person who uses a wheelchair, never lean on the person's wheelchair. The chair is part of his/her personal space just like you would feel offended if someone came up to your face.
-When offering to hand a coat or umbrella, do not offer to hand a cane or crutches unless the individual requests otherwise.

Caroline Chencha,Project Officer Health & Fitness