We Are Part of The Parcel Too!

Introduction

Just by walking around my local community you will observe a lot at a glance, early in the
morning you will meet this specific, lady pushing her daughter’s wheelchair to a local primary
school as expected, she is always alone and people are quick to give way to let them pass and
strongly escorted with strong eyes. In the school there are no ramps or any wheelchair friendly
facilities including the toilets .One of my local cobbler has paralysis on the lower limbs most
people prefer going to the others with no disabilities, children born with disabilities are only
heard on the birth day but never seen in the community the same time everyday you will often
see the mother pushing her daughter back home from school. The other day the local chief gave out
wheelchairs to the people that he felt they needed one. That included the elderly adults and
people living with disabilities as well my grandmother. My grandmother is old
but she can still walk. Some people with disabilities were given wheelchairs that don’t really need wheelchairs. Inefficient policies and practices by communities and the agencies involved may
result to exclusion(United nations 2006)This shows that in my society people living with
disabilities are not given chance to be part of it. They are excluded in their own matters and
cannot fit in the society as it should be and decisions concerning them are made and
implemented without them. Everyone is entitled to right of life free from discrimination and
right to expression (WHO,2004)With inclusion of persons with disabilities in the society life
would be different and everyone person would fit .Kenya is an agricultural country and my
home area is productive in terms of agriculture as well ,the location has two rivers which serve
the region even without rains. Persons with disability can be included in the development of the
region especially in implementation and making decisions on what crops to plant how, when
and to plant them .By including them this will be income generating ,social inclusion ,voice to
be heard

Persons living with disabilities want to and can participate in the society. They want to be
productive members of the society both in low income countries and high income countries
promoting more inclusive society and employment opportunities with disabilities. It sounds
easy to the ear to include persons with disability but it is hard practically even with the
existence of laws protecting the disabled especially where stigma on disability reigns or beliefs
in the society are learnt first and mastered. Definition of disability is subjective and differs from
one place to the other especially in African cultural societies and it dictates how inclusion will
be perceived in a particular place. Traditionally ,disabilities was believed to be associated with
religion ,myths that it is a result of punishment from the past wrong doings ,this is still perceived
and the ’righteous’ persons still avoid the one who did wrong .the medical model describe
disability as an impairment from occurrence of body illness. The international classification of
persons with disabilities defines disability as a term for impairments ,activity limitations or
participation restrictions which results from the interaction between the person with health
condition and environmental factors and personal factors (ICF 2006) .The community is blind to
disability in that disability is not understood or known, it is not visible ,poverty is key and there
are no services for them ,assistive and mobility devices are not available either is education
making the disabled excluded .T here is need for people to understand this so as to fight the
stigma and embrace inclusion .Inclusion of persons with disability impacts cuts through all the
components of community based rehabilitation ,that is health education livelihood social and
empowerment,(WHO 2006)

The World Health Organization estimates that 10% of the population has disability of various
types and the number is increasing due to the rise of chronic disease car crushes violence and
others have limited access to basic services including rehabilitation (WHO 2006) Kenya
acknowledges disabilities as a phenomenon that cuts through al spheres of society and support.
80% of people living with disability live in low income countries living in poverty have limited
opportunities and most of them in rural areas or urban slums. Despite lack of accurate data on
the number of persons living with disabilities they display their mental ,physical and social
needs ,most have no access to education ,health employment or rehabilitation .There is need to
develop strategy to empower persons with disabilities ,reduce poverty and levels and make
them able to participate in national development, and this begins from society level.(Sintef ,et
al 2007) Man is a social being and inclusion is crucial. Community based rehabilitation has been
used in the past and proved effective ,the outcomes include increased independence ,greater
communication skills of persons with disabilities .Livelihood interventions associated with
community based rehabilitation have resulted to in increased incomes and their families are
linked with ton self esteem and greater social inclusion (De Clerk 2010)

Purpose of this Article is too