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Can Whites be disabled?

“Hello councillor, how are you?” the question is repeated again and again as Ann is leading her way through the dusty roads of Kabale in the South western part of Uganda. Ann has a loving smile, beautiful braided hair and she is a user of a heavy and rustic wheelchair. Though only 23 years old she has been elected a district councillor to represent women with disabilities. This time it is one of the many bicycle taxi drivers who want to greet this local political leader as she passes by. But this day Ann is not the only one to draw the taxi driver’s attention. She is followed by a “muzungo” - the local name for a white person - who steals the scene completely. His arms are now and then fighting in the air, his head is turning from side to side and strange semi-articulated sounds are heard.

Kabale is close to the Equator and it is around noon. Ann and Bo enter a bar to get a cold soft drink.

“Well, Many parents have a negative attitude towards their disabled children. Whenever they have visitors they will lock them up in their bedroom because they fear that the visitor will believe that it is a sin or a curse to have a child with a disability. But things are changing these days; at all levels of society there is a growing understanding of the importance of integration of people with disabilities. We have five disabled representatives in parliament fighting to improve our situation. We are getting better access to education but still out in the communities, increased awareness is necessary to change the basic attitudes towards people with disabilities. And even here in Kabale, there is a lot of work to be done because a lot of people are still hiding in their houses feeling useless and ashamed”.

Ann adds, that the visit from the Danish group is very important in the sense that it shows people in Uganda that even though you are a disabled person you have the right to be treated with dignity and respect just as anybody else.

“Well we come from a rich country and our attitude towards disabled fellow citizens reflects a long democratic tradition where the rights of a disabled person is equally important to that of a productive member of society,” Says Bo.“But on the other hand, I find that we have a lot to learn from you. It seems that in Denmark we have focused so much on individual integration in society that we are forgetting the importance of solidarity and of doing things together. Here persons with disabilities are organising themselves, like forming a dance troop or making handy crafts etc. Even though you don’t have material goods you find a way to make a meaningful living. You show an incredible ability to make the best of it and I feel that you are able to appreciate even small achievements. In Denmark you might say that people with disabilities expect society to come and help them. This leaves the initiative for the society to take action instead of the person involved. In Denmark, we are concerned about the individual rights and are not emphasising the importance of being together. You have shown me that, working together, persons with disabilities can achieve a lot”.

Ann and Bo are leaving the bar. They are on their way to a farewell party arranged by the local group of people with disabilities. Two goats have been slaughtered, and the women have been busy preparing the nice meal. After the meal, a group of disabled musicians and dancers are giving the Danish group a thrill. People with lame limbs are dancing intensively on the grass, moving their bodies by the strength of their arms to the sound of the electrifying orchestra with the air of rejoice and excitement.

The successful meeting between the Danes and the Ugandans is about to end. Back in Denmark Bo will discuss his Ugandan experiences with his friends and give his view on the importance of solidarity. Ann on the other hand has confirmed her ideas about the importance of integration of people with disabilities in the society. The visit of the Danish group has provided her with new hard-hitting arguments in her daily work.

Portrait of Bo

My name is Bo Thyrri Soerensen, I’m 32 years old and I'm spastic. My body is different I can’t control my muscles which means I'm sitting in a wheel chair. I will never be able to walk without the help from others and I have difficulty in speaking. I'm used to people looking at me because I’m different but actually I don’t think much about my disability only when It limits me in doing what I want.

I live in Denmark, in a town called Aarhus and at the moment I’m attending a one-year course at Egmont, an integrated Folkehøjskole, a school with a special obligation towards people with disabilities.

Apart from the school, I live in an apartment, which has been made accessible for a disabled person. I need some help during the day with the things I cannot manage on my own, like eating, going to the toilet, going to bed and to get in and out of the wheelchair. For that purpose I have hired three assistants who take turns working on a day and night shift. Living on my own gives me the feeling of freedom and gives me the responsibility of taking care of my own life. I can go to the movies, the bar and the library whenever I want.

My family consists of my mother and father and two brothers who are also living in Aarhus. I can visit them as often as I want and I feel that they support me and are able to help me when I need it. I’m an independent person and I’m happy. I don’t have to live in an institution or at home with my parents.

I like to go to school and achieve more knowledge. I have absolved primary and secondary education in a normal school, but in a class especially organised for people with disabilities. Being a part of a normal school has given me the chance to be an integrated part of the local community together with all the other children. I have started junior college and have already passed different subjects, like history and social science. I need more time than a normal student to finalise my studies but I have the time it takes and manage according to my energy and motivation.

I’m very interested in politics. Together with a group of disabled in Aarhus, we try to inform politicians and organisations on disability issues. In that way, we hope to achieve influence on our lives and possibilities.

I love to read comics and I hope to be a comic writer one day. I believe the dream can come true; I just need a good drawer. I consider myself to be a person with a good sense of humour, I find humour to be an important aspect of life and I use it a lot whenever I socialise. My friends consider me to be an outright, funny guy.

I’ve been lucky to have girlfriends-both girls with and without disability. I’m probably one of the few spastics who have had a girlfriend who wasn’t disabled. It proved to me that some people do not look upon me as a disabled person some are able to se me as a loving caring person with the same needs and feelings as anybody else. But of course to establish a relationship is not easy it takes time and there needs to be trust, companionship and openness in order to create a close relationship.

A good life to me is to be able to achieve something, to be useful, like finalising my studies and that people need me as well as I need them. I wish that one day total integration and total accessibility in society would be a reality so that people wouldn’t stare when they see me in the street and I could enter all places I would like to visit.

My name is Anne Kobusingye. I was born in Uganda, in Kabale district. I’m 23 years old and I’m physically disabled. When I was three years old the right leg was affected by polio. I can’t walk upright so I need a wheelchair in order to move around.

When I started primary level at Kabale Primary School, I didn’t have a wheelchair, because my family couldn’t afford to buy one. The only thing my dad could do was to carry me on his bag to and from school every day. It was a difficult time for me, because whenever I felt like going to the toilet, I had to crawl using my hands even though the toilet was very dirty and further more when it was raining I had to crawl through mud. The other students were laughing at me whenever they saw me crawling during breaks, and when they saw my dad coming to collect me on his back they said that it was a curse from God. They believed I was bewitched by other people and that I was useless to the society. I felt very bad about it and I often cried when I came back from school.

Fortunately, my family managed to collect money from friends in order to buy me a wheelchair, when I was in primary 6. I was really happy about it, because now I could move around more easily on my own, and I didn’t have to disturb the other students to make them help me carry my books. The students’ attitude towards me improved and I started to get more confidence, which had a positive effect on my studies. I was considered a gifted student, which also helped me to associate with other students.

Whenever I could go to town in my own wheelchair, people could see that I was able to take care of myself. I even challenged some by helping street kids by giving them some sweets, pencils and some bananas. This helped improve the attitude towards me among people in the community. By that time it was rare finding a person in a wheelchair, so they thought I was rich. Since I got a wheelchair, I have been going to the villages visiting parents with children with disabilities, sensitising them about their children. Disability doesn’t mean inability, and their children can contribute a lot if they just get the chance.

When people saw me counselling parents, I was elected as a district councillor, representing women with disabilities. I enjoy counselling very much because it gives me the opportunity to exchange ideas with my fellow colleagues from different areas. I learn from them as well as I help them through the process of assessing their needs. I forward these needs to the district council and do some lobby work in order to support their needs. One achievement is that The District Council is now sponsoring children with disabilities from 19 sub counties, in order to give them access to education.

I have just finalised my studies at International Professions Academy, as a secretary and have taken stenography as my course. I have shown my fellow students that I could even beat them in some of the subjects, which proves that a person with a disability can be talented/smart. I even found that some of my fellow students were seeking my advice on issues concerning relationship towards their teacher, fellow students and the principal. They appreciated my advice, which I’m grateful for.

I hope to get a good job in the future, to use my educational background and live an independent life. Today I live with my parents because I can’t afford buying a place of my own. I’m eager to know about different cultures. I wish to travel outside Uganda to meet with other persons with disabilities and to exchange views on how they are dealing with their problems. I even hope to find a partner from outside Uganda and to get a family of my own. Men in Uganda like to have many children and even more than one wife. I believe that one wife and a couple of kids should be enough. Finally I wish to get a new wheelchair. The old one which I’m still using is worn out. This will enable me to go and mobilise people with disabilities from the grassroots level to get involved in self-help projects to help them earn a living.

A folkehøjskole is a school, which is unique to the Danish cultural tradition founded in Denmark about 150 years ago. It is a boarding school for people older than 18 years and it offers various short- and long-term courses. The basic task of a folkehøjskole is to educate students for life - to shed light on some of the basic questions surrounding life for people in Denmark today as individuals and as members of society. The folkehøjskole is required by law to provide a general broadening education and cover a varied range of subjects such as history, psychology, sport, dance, art, international politics, sailing etc. The learning environment requires the students to involve themselves through reflections and debate. Learning rests on a democratic outlook. There is no prescribed syllabus, no exam and no marking. It is more or less a joint venture between the teacher and the students to decide on the content of the subjects.

The Egmont højskole is a school for all but with a special obligation towards people with disabilities. About half of the students attending courses at Egmont have some kind of disability. The severely disabled need help in their daily lives at the school and, so, they hire two or three persons who can assist them outside school hours. During lessons the school provides students with disabilities with so called assistant teachers to help them with practical things and personal care. The helpers engaged by the students with disabilities are the second half of the students, which means that during lessons they are students and free to choose whichever subjects they would like to study. Once lessons are over the helpers start working as personal assistants.

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