Ganesh KC

A short interaction on basic concepts and issues of disabilities was conducted by CIL Kathmandu for the students of K&K college, New Baneshwar on 21st June 2022. The presentation, attended by around 45 participants, was facilitated by Krishna Dahal and Yabesh Adhikari.

The session comprised a concise presentation on key ideas and basic notions of disability, its historical advancements to the point of inclusive, right-based and empowering developments. Similarly, the nationally and internationally valid definitions, categorizations as well as the the role and impact of the difference was also carefully analyzed during the discussion.

The presentation then focused on the challenges and restrictions due to exclusive, discriminatory and non-accepting structure and attitude of the remaining world denouncing the integration of persons with disabilities in an equal frame. The participants discovered the underlying reasons and realized their consequences on both the person with disability and the society as a whole. Finally, the attendees made a declaring promise to contribute for an inclusive and accessible society and approaches to their possible extents.

The activities As the part of issue sensitization and acknowledgement of inclusion and its inevitability, were also conducted during the session. The white cane holding activities with closed eyes to explore the scenario created a deeper impact upon the concepts and understanding of the attendees. Finally, with the encouraging remarks from the institution and its members, the interaction was concluded with the group photographs and informal interactions.

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CIL hosted a two day program of orientation on Independent Living followed by a interaction and sharing session at Shital Chautari Restaurant on June 9 and 10 starting at around 11. General Secretary Mr. Ganesh K.C. gave the welcome speech and the program was chaired by Mr. Padam Keshar Adhikari, Division head of Social Development Department, Kathmandu Metropolitan City . 35 people attended the session which include all the board members with new members and interns. The program started with Ms. Jamuna Subedi, Vice President of CIL, giving a presentation on the concept, philosophy and UNCRPD-2006. She also mentioned about the brief history of disability and national and international provisions for Persons with disability. Her presentation was followed by the guest’s speech where he addressed the accessibility issue and asked us to realize our potential while not hesitating to ask for help.

A sharing session was held on the next day where people from different walks of life shared about their experience in being a PWDs in Nepal. The organization wanted to make sure that everyone was on board with the concept of Independent living so the floor was open for question answer session. Everyone put their queries forward which were swiftly answered by the members of the agency. The ceremony ended with Mr. Tek Prasad Gurung, President of CIL, giving a closing speech and thanking everyone for their active participation.

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On June 8, 2022 delegates from CIL-Kathmandu met Murari Tamang, newly elected Deputy Mayor of Tokha Municipality advocating for accessible and disability-friendly Infrastructure handing over the memorandum letter. Mr. Murari Tamang, the deputy mayor of the municipality, joined the meeting within the parking ground, again due to the inaccessible structure of the Municipality office. The deputy mayor seemed concerned about the issues raised in the memorandum. Moreover, since the areas like social welfare, disability, etc are under the responsibility of the deputy mayor, he acknowledged the inaccessibility prevalent in the infrastructures and buildings. The new building of the municipality was under construction.  So with the confirmation of engineers, he assured delegates that the building is designed in a disabled-friendly manner. The meeting was concluded after handing over the memorandum and photo session.

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           On 23rd May, Dr. Colin Collettvan Rayen (Regional Director), Rajendra Khadka and Manisha Shrestha representatives from the Australian Volunteers Program came on a regular visit to CIL Kathmandu. They were warmly welcomed by all the executive board members and proceeded into the meeting room where Jamuna Subedi delivered a short presentation on the history and background of the organization and its activities in the area of disability. Both teams interacted concerning representation, governmental aid and accountability. Then, DR. Rayen and representatives wished the best in the future endeavors to CIL-Kathmandu in accomplishing the goals and missions working for PWDs. 

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On May 9, 2022, an orientation program on general concepts of disability, its approaches and perspectives and issues as well as rights of people having disabilities, was organized for the students of social work at Kadambari Memorial College. 20 participants joined the orientation conducted by CIL Kathmandu in collaboration with College.

The presentation lasted for around two hours, where the participants were introduced with the basic concepts concerning disability. From the proper definition of disability, the session incorporated the 10 different types of disabilities, four variances on the basis of severity, major challenges and issues of persons with disability and roles and responsibilities of every sections of the society for a disability friendly and disability inclusive society.

The interactive session was facilitated by Yabesh Adhikari and Krishna Dahal. The program not only covered the conceptual detailing of the theoretical aspects, but also included the actual demonstration of day-to-day challenges faced by the persons with disabilities through visual presentation. Similarly, for the issue sensitization, the practical activities and experiments were also conducted. For instance, one of the participants was asked to explore around handling the white cane with the eyes closed. The presentation also identified the abilities and the strengths of PWDs and reviewed the existing barriers creating the gap of the PWDs with the rest of the world, and discussed on creating accessible environment and accepting attitude for the empowerment and participation of the PWDs.

The participants expressed their gratitude to the organization and the presenters and gave their encouraging remarks to extend the disability literacy program in many groups and sections of the society. Their final comments suggested that the presentation was successful in persuading the issues and concerns of the PWDs and developing understanding on the difference of disability from inability.

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