'It is not the end of life' is the motto of Kenyans struggling to provide life-changing help to disabled people in the African country as foundation officials speak to Daily Sabah about their efforts to deliver
As humans, we take many things for granted; but the privileges we are born with are the most prominent things we don't really appreciate until we lose them.
Our sight, hearing, our legs and feet that get us places and many other parts of our body we’ve had since birth are ironically the most crucial and most looked-over instruments we can ever need.
Imagine you’re living in a multimillion-dollar mansion overlooking the Atlantic but you’re visually impaired; or you have the best-ever sound system in that mansion yet you are hard of hearing.
You have an Olympic-sized pool in the garden of that mansion yet you don’t have any arms or legs to swim; or an NBA-sized basketball court in your backyard but you are bedridden.
As those hypothetical examples clearly show, no luxury can make up for the parts of ourselves that we don’t even pay attention to because we get accustomed to having them. God forbid, an accident happens and you are suddenly deprived of many things you could do if you were able-bodied.
Kenya, despite being one of the most developed countries in its region, still lags behind in humanitarian development and accessibility.
That’s why Disability Beyond Understanding (DBU) was formed to help locals with disabilities and make their lives better.
"Disability Beyond Understanding is a community-based organization that aims to achieve its mission of giving hope to the persons with disabilities (PWD) and eradicating stigma through educating the public on matters concerning PWD to erase the cultural myths on various types of disability," Mkirema said.
"We are now two-and-half years old since we officially began this journey. So far, we have successfully conducted not only charity events, but also mentorship programs with both the adult and children with various disabilities; mostly in special schools for the children," she added.
Explaining that DBU’s partnership with other NGOs and the Kenyan authorities "has made it possible to not only feed the PWD in our community but also empower them," the official added that they also advertise products made by people with disabilities, such as handmade beaded bags, mats, sweaters and artificial flowers made with recycled mattresses to help them gain an income.
"All this and more has been possible through the teamwork below with assistance with donors, well-wishers and our own projects’ input," she said, underlining that anyone wanting to help can reach the NGO via its official Facebook and Google pages.
"With the experience gained and the passion for making a positive impact in society through giving out reliable information, I have created the idea of commencing the Disability Beyond Understanding as the founder with a mission to continue educating and giving hope to the people with disabilities," Mkirema, a journalist, also said.
"I use my career as a journalist and a radio presenter to tell the positive stories of the people with disabilities, with an aim of changing the narrative of them being just beggars," the official also underlined.
Thanking Turkey for its humanitarian efforts in Kenya, Mkirema also underlined that they expect further help from the country globally known for its generosity, which manifested itself the most in the efforts of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), which is active in charity efforts in more than 150 countries around the world.
"We shall appreciate Turkish input in making our mission and goal a success with however you can support us," she said.
"Finding markets for existing sewing projects through which mats, sweaters and scarfs are made to financially support the special schools of mentally challenged children, teaching simple yet modern farming technics to the PWD’s through assistance from experts around or beyond the country to understand that importance making use of one’s land, planning and creating more charity and diaper drives for many PWD’s in dire need of sanitary pads and pampers are crucial," Mkirema underlined.
"We would also appreciate any assistance, trainings and mentorships from the Turkish Embassy in Nairobi," she concluded.
Co-founder and treasurer of the NGO, Ezekiel, has his own physical disability that is the result of "being attacked by polio at the age of 5."
"From that time, life somehow hasn't been very easy in terms of moving from one place to another," he quipped, underlining the challenges he went through.
"I was operated on and I am now capable of using crutches and tricycle at least to ease my movements," he added.
"After accepting myself and understanding the realm of disabilities, I began to raise awareness of disabilities in the society. This is because as people with disabilities, we struggle a lot with normal society whereby we are looked at as cursed people," Ezekiel emphasized.
"Nobody should associate us with a ‘curse’ because of the nature of our disabilities. Sometimes even the parents run away and neglect their own children because of their disabilities. But guess what, none of those children wanted to be disabled in the first place," he said.
Ezekiel also said that he cared for the disabled and elderly "just to understand the different types of disabilities and how each one of them should be handled."
"In addition, I have been privileged of visiting different high schools, sharing the word of God," he added.
"This has been like an eye opener for the society in that despite the challenge that we have, we have also created our ways," Ezekiel underlined, adding that disabled people are perfectly capable of doing many things able-bodied people can.
"My message to the disabled and able-bodied people alike is; no one applied to be a disabled person and everyone is a potential candidate for disability," he said.
"Everyone is created, loved and valued by God even if you have autism, hydrocephalus, microcephalus, spina bifida, scoliosis or any other disability."
On the other hand, Leah Njeri Mugo, a librarian and the secretary of the NGO, emphasized the stigma that people with albinism like herself have to struggle with.
"Albinism is a rare genetic condition caused by mutation of certain genes that affect the amount of melanin your body produces," she explains.
"Melanin controls the pigmentation color of your skin, eyes and hair. People with albinism face a lot of challenges, most prominent of which are the stigma and the social problems it causes; disturbances with their skin and sight," Mugo added.
"Being a librarian has empowered me a lot because I am able to train the community about albinism and I have been able to stand out to the world to prove that disability is not inability," she said.
"I train the teenagers on how to climb up the ladder of their career; how to select their university courses and which subject to work on while at school," Mugo underlined.
The secretary also said that she tells the youth about the dangers of using drugs and that they need to refrain from doing so.
We live in a cruel world with lots of cruel people in it. But guess what, beautiful people like the Kenyans who set up the Disability Beyond Understanding from scratch also exist, and they are really the ones who make living on this planet worthwhile.