- DISABILITY IS NOT INABILITY
” There is no greater disability in society than the inability to see a person as more.” Quote by Robert Hensel
INTRODUCTION
A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions).
There are many types of disabilities, such as those that affect a person’s:
Vision,movement,thinking,remembering,learning,communicating,hearing,mental health,social relationships.
Although “people with disabilities” sometimes refers to a single population, this is actually a diverse group of people with a wide range of needs. Two people with the same type of disability can be affected in very different ways. Some disabilities may be hidden or not easy to see.
Disability has three dimensions:
- Impairment in a person’s body structure or function, or mental functioning; examples of impairments include loss of a limb, loss of vision or memory loss.
- Activity limitation, such as difficulty seeing, hearing, walking, or problem solving.
- Participation restrictions in normal daily activities, such as working, engaging in social and recreational activities, and obtaining health care and preventive services
SOURCE: World Health Organization, read the full article here.
According to the National Institute of Statistics (NISR) in Rwanda, The disability measure used in the 2012 Census is based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and uses the concept of activity limitations (difficulty seeing, hearing, speaking, walking/climbing and learning/concentrating) to identify persons with disabilities. Overall, 446,453 persons with disabilities aged 5 and above are living in Rwanda according to the 2012 Census, out of which 221,150 are male and 225,303 are female.
The count of persons with disabilities by province reflects the geographical distribution of the population in general, with the largest number being found in the Southern Province (122,319) and the lowest in Kigali City (32,170). For the same reason, the number of persons with disabilities is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
Based on the above information, people with disabilities are men, women or children who also have needs, desires, dreams and may be passion and talent like the rest of the people. But why are they treated differently and deprived from all these rights?
WHAT IS THE POINT OF EVERYTHING?
We do believe that all people should be treated fairly and equally, but it has been discovered that people with disabilities tend to be treated differently in many/almost all circumstances. Those people may even get physically, emotionally and psychologically abused by their families, colleagues and other people unkown to them. But is it right?
If we look forward to a better World of equal opportunity, we should clearly understand that disability is not inability, and we should help those disabled people who face such hilarious life challenges by seeing the best in them. Some people (mostly in rural areas) do not belive that a disabled person can do anything beneficial, and it is a wrong mindset which should be changed.
Therefore, Easy and Possible Organization would wish to have a country wide community mobilization where people in all districts have to be reached out and taught about how they should treat people with disabilities in their societies. During this mobilization, Easy and Possible Organization alongside the famous,young,talented singer and artist Niyo Bosco and Queen Cha would tour the whole country sensitizing about this matter via singing,interaction and testimonies. Niyo Bosco was choosen because he is a living example of a person with disability( blindness) who is able to compose,sing and perform songs even better than people who can see. Someone saw him,believed in his talent and took him from his village and now he is a shining star who inspires and touches many lives through his songs. And yet Queen Cha was choosen because, she is a female artist who inspires many women both in rural and urban areas, and has been found to be sympathetic, disciplined, humble and wise
“People with disabilities have abilities too and that is what this course is all about-making sure those abilities blossom and shine so that all the dreams you have can come true.” Quote by Mary Mcaleese
HOW WILL IT BE DONE?
- A community mobilization using mobile sound and roadshow (live performance by Niyo Bosco and Queen Cha)
- Interaction/physical conversation between Niyo Bosco, Queen Cha and the community around in the selected districts for testimonies and advice.
- Interaction/dialogue between the government officials, civil societies, health officers and other related personalities with the community of the selected districts to deliver speeches about how Disability is not Inability.
- It should cover all the 30 districts/selected districts with big number of people with disabilities.
- Using fliers, posters and radio shows to teach people about how to treat people with disabilities.
- Meeting people with disabilities to discover their potentials, talent and dreams in a way that they should be developed .
- After this campaign, a second phase should be set in motion to support people with disabilities by helping them develop their talents, enroll them in technical schools as well as providing assistance to each one according to their choices.
“It’s not our disabilities,but it’s our abilities that count” Quote by Chris Burke
2. AFRICAN NGOS FORUM FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
African NGOs Forum for Youth Development (ANFYD) is a youth-led forum established in 2020 under the idea raised by a Rwandan youth non-profit organization known as Easy and Possible Organization after visualizing how African development will go down due to COVID-19, which led to the economic crisis across the globe and life entirely. One among the forum specific objective is to put all African Youth NGOs together so as to tackle the consequences of the Corona virus pandemic facing African Youth, to learn from each other, share experiences, awareness and seek out solutions for sustainable development of African Youth. Hence, Easy and Possible Organization came up with the idea of creating this network as a platform that also enlarges its activities to African continent.
The forum as the co-ordination body or an inter non-governmental organization platform across Africa aims also to accelerating the implementation of the decision taken for the youth especially those from low class.
The main purpose is to become a vehicle of representation, coordination and cooperation between the youth organizations of Africa by identifying the most pertinent high quality information on African youth issue and providing solution for them by drafting proposals and raising funds.
3. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ABOUT DEPRESSION AND SUICIDE
- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Mental disorders occur in all regions and cultures of the world, the most prevalent being depression and anxiety,
which are estimated to affect nearly one in 10 people on the planet.
The prevalence of depression among women is substantially higher than among men. At its worst, depression can
lead to suicide. An annual global suicide death rate of 11.4 per 100 000 population, and for every suicide there are
many more suicide attempts.
Just over 75% of all suicide deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, among young adults
between ages 15 and 29, suicide ranked as the second leading cause of death in 2019 (after road injury) and
among teenagers aged 15-19 years, suicide was the second leading cause of death among girls (after maternal
conditions) and the third leading cause of death in boys (after road injury and interpersonal violence).
Every year 703000 people take their own life and there many more people who attempt suicide.
Suicide is a complex phenomenon that has attracted the attention of philosophers, theologians, physicians,
sociologists and artists over the centuries. As a serious public health problem it demands our attention, but its
prevention and control, unfortunately, are no easy task. That is why it requires to involve a whole series of
activities, ranging from the provision of the best possible conditions for bringing up our children and youth,
through the effective treatment of mental disorders, to the environmental control of risk factors and again
involving a wide range of people and groups, including health professionals, educators, social agencies,
governments, legislators, social communicators, law enforcers, families and communities.
Appropriate dissemination of information and awareness-raising are essential elements in the success of suicide
prevention programmes.
- THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEM (International and National level)
Poor detection of mental illness is major problem, meaning that there are low rates of recognition of depression,
both by people suffering from it and by health-care providers.
- More than 700000 people die due to suicide in every year, worldwide.
- Every 40 seconds a person commits suicide somewhere in the world.
- Every 3 seconds a person attempts to die.
- Suicide is among the top three causes of death among young people aged 15 – 29 years.
- Each suicide has a serious impact on at least six other people.
- The psychological, social and financial impact of suicide on the family and community is immeasurable.
- Suicide is a complex problem for which there is no single cause, no single reason. It results from a complex
interaction of biological, genetic, psychological, social, cultural and environmental factors. It is difficult to explain
why some people decide to commit suicide while others in a similar or even worse situation do not. However,
most suicides can be prevented. Suicide is now a major public health issue in all countries. Empowering primary
health care staff to identify, assess, manage and refer the suicidal person in the community is an important step in
suicide prevention but this strategy alone can’t prevent it at the wide range.
Furthermore, Rwanda has gone through intense socio-cultural changes and historical events that are inseparable
to its current mental health situation. The country experienced an atrocity that took over 1 million people’s lives
exterminated in just 100 days during the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. It is obvious that the impact on
Rwandans’ mental health because of the magnitude of destruction and loss during the genocide was high. This led
to the establishment of a mental health program in 1994 to deal with such resulting consequences
It should be noted, however, that despite different mental health programs, a recent mental health survey showed
the highest prevalence rates of mental disorders of 20.5% (N=19,110) and 52.2% (N=1271) both in the general
population and in the sub-sample of survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi respectively . The most
prevalent mental disorders were major depressive episodes (12.0%), panic disorder (8.1%), and posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) (3∙6%) in the general population. In genocide survivors, the major depressive episode was
(35.0%) PTSD and panic disorders (27.9% and 26.8%, respectively). Alcohol use disorder was reported at 1.6% in
the general population and 4% among genocide survivors.
Therefore, it is considered that the preexisting mental health disorder in Rwanda is likely to have been
exacerbated by COVID-19 and lead to additional mental health difficulties.Countries’ health systems are currently focused on testing and preventing the progression of COVID-19; therefore
it would be reasonable to believe that people’s thoughts and behavior are affected by the pandemic. However,
psychological distress following the pandemic itself and established restriction measures may vary among
individuals. In the face of the unprecedented health cataclysm, individuals display extensive worries about health
and their future, persistent uncertainty; maladaptive behaviors, externalized and internalized anger,
aggressiveness, negative emotions of fear, sadness, and irritability. These manifestations are perceived to be
worse on people with pre-existing mental difficulties.
Prevention measures such as restriction of movements and total lockdowns during the COVID-19 era might have
negatively affected people with underlying mental illness, causing some of these patients to evade psychological
support or use psychotropic drugs making their conditions more acute and dangerous. In some instances, being
restricted to attending safe space group sessions where they used to share their experiences has also affected
their treatment course.
Before the pandemic, some generous people and organizations offered support of different types to patients with
mental difficulties, particularly patients discharged from psychiatric hospitals. Since almost everyone is coping with
challenges imminent from the pandemic, there is a significant decrease in support or help mental health patients
used to receive. This has, in return, exacerbated their conditions. Therefore, individuals with preexisting
psychological difficulties predict higher psychological impacts following the pandemic than the general public.
- PREVENTION METHODOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABILITY
The above-mentioned expected mental health impacts of COVID-19 will require intense interventions and
measures to mitigate the consequences on individuals, families, and communities.
Easy and possible organization in it expertise will carrying out public and community mental health
Awareness, such as public discussions on the taking care of mental health during challenging times by
professionals, should be paramount and channeled through ISANO RADIO dubbed on 92.FM and other platforms,
Messages of hope are necessary and need to be broadcasted and posted in all public spaces to reach grassroots
levels. The messages will include the following
- limit access to the means of suicide (e.g. pesticides, firearms, certain medications)
- interact with the media for responsible reporting of suicide
- foster socio-emotional life skills in adolescents;
- Early identify, assess, manage and follow up anyone who is affected by suicidal behaviors.
The theme will be ‘’YOU IN MIND CAMPAIGN’’ (WOWE MUNTEKEREZO) Easy and Possible hope without shadow
of doubt that the number of death caused by suicide will be reduced in Rwanda.
- EASY AND POSSIBLE EXPERISE AND OPERATIONAL CAPACITY
Since October 2015 Car parks and Markets radios network Rwanda have been broadcasting on car parks and
markets radio voices in Western and North parts of Rwanda. Such as Rubavu district and Musanze district.
Talk shows are one of the approaches we use with our contractors or clients for communication programs and
publicity.
As part of this campaign made in the tax parks and markets, each of the radio voices owns mobile sound system
that aired program talks and publicity with experts to hold a community outreach activity in the areas surrounding
the radio voices station.
Therefore, Car parks and markets radio voices network Rwanda currently owns 60 car parks and markets radios
that are spread across the country and easy and possible have a plan of raising the number up to 100, national
wide.
The markets and tax parks goers freely listen the radios while they are running their daily business activities.
The number of permanent market traders, passengers, tax parks workers and people who are in the movement (in
and out) differ accordingly.
Throughout this journey we worked with different Organizations such as MTN Rwanda, Telecom campany,
Umurinzi on Ebola Vaccination program, UNICEF Rwanda, UN Migration, IOM and RBC, among others through
advertising and public awareness programs.
Furthermore, after receiving positive recommendations from our contractors/Clients for the useful and public
awareness contributions of that CARPAKS AND MARKETS RADIOS VOICE NETWORK we came out with a new idea
of setting a RADIO MEDIA HOUSE called ISANO MEDIA HOUSE with Radio station dubbed ISANO FM (92FM).
In Fact, ISANO MEDIA HOUSE is owned by Easy and Possible Organization to help the organization to reach the
population through mobilization and public awareness campaign as it’s in their mission.
Isano Media House owns an online newspaper www.isano.rw which provides social media advertisement services
using influencers with high number of followers and viewers . Easy and Possible is a Local none Governmental
Organization legally recognized by RGB and it has physical address in western part of Rwanda,Rubavu District,
Gisenyi sector Amahoro cell and Amahoro village. Precisely in Gisenyi city second floor of KCB building.
Last but not least, Through ISANO FM our audience has gone up so far and comprises of people based in the
districts of western province and North province of Rwanda and some parts of Goma, Masisi in DRC. And we have
a mission of expending our frequencies to other two remaining provinces of Rwanda as well as in Easter African
region at large by the end of 2023.
