Enabling the Differently-Abled of Nepal
(Published in The Kathmandu Post, November 10, 2015)
Sandhya Regmi
sandhyaregmi2000@gmail.com
Just
imagine, for a second, when the ability to move your hands and legs freely -
the most precious gift bestowed by nature on human body - gets robbed suddenly making
you dependent on wheelchair or crutches, and in the worst case bed-ridden for
the rest of your life. Can you still see the survival of your life’s colorful
dreams? Now imagine what it takes for that wheel-chaired you to lead a
dignified, fulfilling, and inspirational life.
Every year,
thousands of spinal-cord-injured are compelled to face this in reality due to
man-made accidents or natural disasters. A spinal-cord injury blocks
communication between the brain and the rest of the body—partially or
completely paralyzing the body’s whole host of muscular and nerve functions. The
National Federation of Disabled, Nepal (NFDN) has thus categorized spinal
injury as Disability Class ‘A’ among other disabilities as visually impaired,
hearing & speech impaired, mobility impaired and mentally retarded.
A spinal-cord-injured
needs much more than a wheel-chair. Physiotherapy treatment and medical
stabilization for rehabilitation, psychological counseling for motivation, vocational
training that helps find a job. Wheelchair-friendly public facilities, and our transformed
mindset that treats the differently-abled not with pity, but embraces them in
the society with love and respect.
Challenges
faced by them are enormous. Gayatri Dahal, an active member of NSCISA and
social worker who is bound to wheel-chair since the past 30 years of her life,
puts it this way- “We, the spinal injured, are like small babies because our
daily life cannot run without a volunteer by our side, our legs are impaired,
our bladder and bowel movement are not under our control. Especially due to
this we are considered burden by our own family members, and it is not
unnatural to have the suicidal thoughts as a last resort to all our problems.
The spinal injured are highly vulnerable to urinary tract infection, and have
high risk of dying from depression, inception and bed sores.”
So, where
do we stand in addressing their basic needs?
To start
with, we do have a Swiss-NGOs-funded Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre (SIRC)
in Banepa’s Saanga, which was inaugurated in April 2002 by Sir Edmund Hillary. The
Centre rehabilitates the patients by physical and emotional healings, conducts
psychological counseling to boost their morale and resolve to rehabilitate, and
provides vocational training needed to find job and to reintegrate and
restructure their lives.
While the
the physical rehabilitation’s importance is obvious, the role of counseling experts
is vital in installing and driving forward the patients’ hope. A fellow
spinal-injured is best positioned to lead others in the path of hope, because their
peers’ life-examples and experiences have power to fuel and motivate them. Artificial-legged Thomas Whittaker climbed the Mt. Everest
in 1998 and so did Erik Weihemmayer in
2001 despite being blind.
In Nepal, a
team of 9 such spinal injured wheel-chaired counselors have taken an initiative
in that direction. In a desperate attempt to prove their enormous passion for
life and sports, these peer counselors have
established Nepal Spinal Cord Injury Sports Association (NSCISA) in 2009 and started
running a series of sport activities in collaboration with Danish
Sports Organization for the Disabled. The Association became the first-of-its-kind organization to introduce wheelchair basketball,
para swimming, and wheelchair cricket in Nepal.
In 2014, the Association’s activities went
beyond the national boarder, when it participated in the international
wheelchair basketball tournament in Bangladesh. This year, the Association hosted in
Kathmandu the first ever international wheelchair cricket series between Nepal
and Pakistan.
If we are
to know more about the spinal-injured, nothing compares to meeting and
associating them in person. This is so,
at least in my case. Three years ago, when I first visited the SIRC in Saanga, I
found myself in a world that I had never known before. Despite themselves being
victims of unfortunate accidents, struggles, and sufferings, the spinal injured
had divine gifts to offer: their heart-winning smiles. I could see in their
innocent eyes the love for and hope in life, despite the devastating new
realities that they were compelled to face. I salute the spirit of these extraordinary people.
In the days
that followed, I made repeated visits to them. I started inviting them as
special guests in my solo-painting exhibitions in Nepal Art Council Babarmahal,
literary ceremonies, social gatherings, and even to play “Dheusi-Bhailo’ during
Deepawali in my yard. In no time, my intimacy and love to them grew to such an
extent that the spinal-injured became among my best friends.
That
friendship proved crucial in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake when
we joined hands in the pious mission for these earthquake victims.
On 13th
June 2015, we coordinated and organized the Earthquake-Refreshment Wheelchair
Basketball Tournament to the wheel-chair bound with the aim to provide them physical
and mental refreshment and also to raise awareness of sports among the disabled.
The following day, we organized a refreshment programme to all the spinal-injured
patients undergoing treatment in SIRC, where the patients had almost doubled following
the two great quakes. We are thankful to German Nepal Friendship Association (GNFA)
for sponsoring these events.
To assist
in their emotional healing, we engaged them in creative art and counseling. Involving
a group of artists, we organized an art therapy to the earthquake-traumatized differently-abled
children in SOS Village in Jorpati and Disabled Rehabilitation Centre (DRC) in Gokarna.
We counseled the spinal-injured victims from the earthquake in Jorpati’s Nepal
Orthopedic Hospital.
As every human has the right to live, love, marry, and reproduce,
there is no valid reason why the differently-abled should be deprived of these
rights. There should be no hindrance in their path of love, marriage, and
family building. It is high time we, as a society, provide them helping hands.
We have long way to go
in developing disabled-friendly
infrastructures: public toilets, hospitals, educational institutions, office
buildings, recreational and entertainment facilities, historical monuments,
temples and pagodas. Inauguration of Khagendra Disabled-Accessible Road in
Jorpati on 8th September 2015 proves that we can do it.
Differently-abled can
not only stand on their own, but also are capable of leading the entire
society, if given the right opportunities. Stephan
Hawking—one of the greatest scientists and physicists of the
21st century—is a living legend, despite being physically-challenged
and bound to wheel-chair. Jhamak Ghimire—born victim of cerebral palsy—has inspired
the world through her literary writings.
Efforts at individual
and organization levels have been and will remain crucial in rehabilitating and
integrating the physically-challenged with the society. But the state must lead
the effort by systematically studying the issue, formulating related policies, promulgating
acts, and developing specialized institutes and public facilities for the
differently-abled.
