There is No Need to Live with a Sense of Inferiority: Kumar Thapa

- By Maheshwar Ghimire

Kumar Thapa teaches Nepali at Mahendra Ratna Campus, Tahachal as a lecturer with permanent tenure. Kumar Thapa is blind.
Presented here are excerpts from a talk held with him.

 How did you begin your education?
There were few who went to school in Lubhu when I was a child. As for me, I used to stay with an aunt who lived in
Tripureshwar, and I attended the Laboratory School at Kirtipur for about a year and half, commuting to and fro during the day. After that I spent ten years at the school as a boarder and studied up to class 10. So in a way I didn’t have any problem.

 What was schooling like in those days?
The school opened in 2021 (1964/65) introducing something called special education. I did not know this then. I must have started going to school after I was 10 years old. It was the only school offering special education at the time, and there really were no text books such as now. There were two trained teachers. Trained meant only that they knew Braille. They had no other training. The teachers occasionally rendered important lessons into Braille through the use of a Braille type. Apart from that we had no books. We would be given one slate by the school for writing. If it got broken there wouldn’t be any replacement. We had to face a lot of hardship in those days.

 Although Braille education was taken on a long time ago, it has not spread across the country. Why?
The main reason for the relatively limited use of Braille is the inadequacy of the government. It was only after the 2040’s (1983/84) that other schools were opened, and that was not even done by the Government but by NGO’s. Only since 2051 (1994/95) has there been some effort. However, things like reading material and text books, tools such as slates and type are still not available.

How open is the doors to the job market for blind people?
In other countries the visually challenged can be seen taking up any work other than driving vehicles or flying airplanes. In neighboring countries they can be seen working at the level of directors, secretaries and under secretaries in various
government bodies. In Nepal they can be seen only in education. The main reason behind this is lack of a policy decision on what kind of work should be given to the disabled or visually challenged. With the advent of multiparty governance, we formed a committee under my chairmanship to start a movement to find employment for ourselves. At the time I had just completed my B. Ed. and I knew that the visually impaired could teach. In the end a special allotment for 21 teaching positions was made from that time on and this was continued till 2055 (1998/ 99). That is how it appeared that all became teachers. Talking about myself, I passed the (teachers’) commission test on my own in competition with the non-disabled, and joined Tribhuvan University. The same thing could have been done in other sectors, but that would have required necessary aids such as appropriate computers and physical environment. None of our attention has gone towards creating the environment.

How satisfied are you with this calling?
As a calling I think theaching is OK because so far it has been enough for me to read something just once. My head has been a real help. When a new book comes out or I come across new material, I get my friends to read them out for me. So far there has been no problem. Student feedback has also been good. So I don’t feel there is any problem.

When did you get married, and how?
I got married in the year 2053. I entered into wedlock after I had become a temporary teacher and had also completed by
degree. We had known each other from before. It was on the basis of mutual discussion that I married someone who is blind like myself. It can be described as a love-arranged marriage.

How can you explain to the non-handicapped that your married life is a happy one?
At first many people said a marriage of two people who were alike in disability would be problematical. It would be difficult when it came to practical things. But we decided that it would be feasible and we have created a situation where people now say it is feasible, it can work out. We have two children whom we looked after ourselves. Both of us teach at school. Both our children are non-disabled. We did everything ourselves such as cooking, laundry, cleaning up. What is needed is will and the atmosphere. Help from neighbors and from kin is something that the non-disabled also need, others also need.

In the beginning when we went to live in that area neighbors would be astonished. But now socially speaking we do not stand
out as anybody apart.

It is said that the disabled have a weak marital life - their sexual yearning being low or non existent. True or not?
This is nothing more than speculation by one type of people about another type of people. There is no truth in it. When someone first said that women should be given the vote the legislatures in great nations like Britain and America erupted in laughter and commotion. Everyone said it was lunacy. But it came to be proved that women can perform. It is the same thing with the disabled. The priority is not just to live. To live is a priority for all. Sexual relations, marital relations are a matter of practicality. These are something biological which have their influence on one and all. The main thing is we know it is important to live an active life, and what others need for living an active life are what a disabled person needs
also.

What hurdles are facing disabled persons?
The main obstacle is wrong social attitudes. It is not my argument that such attitudes are to be found mostly among the uneducated and ignorant. Wrong attitudes are to be found among the educated, the so called intelligentsia, those at the decision making levels. There is the notion that the disabled cannot do anything, that they should merely be shown kindness.

Under such circumstances awareness becomes key. Given awareness, people will have a positive attitude, and clear policies
will ensue. At the same time opportunities should be provided and a conducive atmosphere created.

What messages would you like to give to the state, government, society and the disabled separately?
The state and government should accord the disabled priority as a class and come up with appropriate policies. Opportunities should be created. In particular, a significant level of facilities should be extended in matters like education, health care and employment in order to empower them. Instead of looking down on the disabled or saying that their disability is the fruit of sins committed in a previous life, society should realize that anyone can become disabled at any time. An attitude should gain ground that we are all equal, there is no difference between us, and that as such we should treat the disabled with love, not just kindness. As for the disabled themselves, they need to avoid any inferiority complex,
and feel instead that given the same opportunities as the rest of society they too can achieve anything, and forge ahead. There is no need to live with a sense of inferiority. I feel that we should focus on developing high morale.

I am Not an Object of Pity
- By Manja Kamwi

Name : Sinkamba Lango
Age : 36 years old
Job/Occupation : Accountant by profession, small-scale
entrepreneur and consultant in ICT, wheel chair marathon racer and chairperson of Disability Initiatives Foundation in Zambia
Town : Lusaka
Country : Zambia

What is your disability?
I am physically disabled. I suffered from polio when I was four years old. The polio has paralysed my muscles from the waist and down, which is why I am in a wheel chair.

What is the biggest problem facing disabled people in your country?
There are many problems facing disabled people in Zambia, but one of the biggest is the lack of accessibility. It is still very difficult for disabled people to get access to education - especially if you are blind or deaf. There are simply not enough teachers who know how to educate blind or deaf people. For disabled people in a wheel chair the major problem is physical access. As it is now it would be impossible for me to enter the University Of Zambia. I simply can’t get around out there.

What could improve your quality of life?
If Zambians would start looking at disabled people as partners in development - not as objects of pity. The perception is that if you are disabled the community and the family have to perform for you and you are left out of the life that everybody else is living. It would be much better if disabled people were encouraged to an independent life as much as possible with the necessary tolls needed like a wheel chair of course.
I would like people to look at my abilities instead of my disability and let me enjoy the rights as a human being as
everybody else is enjoying.

(Manja Kamwi is Information Development Worker in MS Zambia)


Examples of International Aid to Disabled People in Nepal

Danish Council of Organisation of Disabled People– DSI Denmark facilitates partnership programmes between Danish and Nepalese disability organizations. As of May 2005 five partnerships are in place and others are to follow. DSI sponsors an 18 weeks long training in Denmark. Two Nepalese persons with disabilities have been attending the course annually for the last three years.

ADRA Nepal – The Adventist Development and Relief Agency – have been working with persons born with congenital cleft lip and palate since 1994. ADRA Nepal has been conducting a Cleft Lip and Palate (CLP) Surgery Programme for the past eleven years. The focus has been on correcting this physical deformity in individuals from poor socio-economic background and thus assisting to uplift their social status in their communities.

Action Aid Nepal focuses on the rights of people with disabilities but also invests in physical services. Through policy advocacy, capacity building, livelihood security, medical and orthopedic support, trainings, sensitization and education, Action Aid seeks to enhance the socialisation process of people with disabilities. Five percent of Action Aid Nepal’s employees are disabled in some way.

Terre Des Hommes have worked for 20 years in Nepal with local partner Hospital and Rehabilitation centre for Disabled Children (HRDC). It is the largest programme for children with disabilities in Nepal covering 39 districts and receiving children patients from 74 districts in Nepal. Working with disabled people is part of the global strategy of Terre Des Hommes.

Students Partnership Worldwide - SPW Nepal
SPW works with and for young people, who include disabled youth as well. SPW Nepal volunteers and partner NGOs have worked
with blind students and established hostels and supported their studies in Baglung and Ilam.

World Vision International Nepal-WVIN is currently working on a district level household survey of the situation of PWDs in
Sunsari. Awareness raising plays an important role in the work if WVIN and the organisation do trainings for partners working
in areas such as primary eye care, arsenic tests and iodine deficiency and awareness training on disability issues for VDCs.

MS Nepal
MS Nepal has adopted “Disability” as a crosscutting issue in its development policy. MS Nepal has one strategic partner on
disability: ‘Disabled Human Rights Centre’ (DHRC) but all partner organisations should take into consideration issues of
disabled people in their work as far as possible. Inclusive education programmes in the Far-Western region seek to strengthen
families with disabled children.

Save the Children Norway work with children and youth with disabilities through NGO partners in four districts of Nepal.
Projects focus on the rights of children with disabilities. Advocacy work on disabled children’s rights as well as human and
material resource development is carried out both locally and nationally.

(Since this piece is based on responses to a questionnaire sent out by MS Nepal in May 2005, this does not mean that these are the only organizations working in the field of disability. There might be many more who couldn’t respond on time)