By Abdullahi Jamaa
Yvonne Pierre an award award-winning writer once said “When you focus on someone’s disability you’ll overlook their abilities, beauty and uniqueness. Once you learn to accept and love them for who they are, you subconsciously learn to love yourself unconditionally.”
And so this year, the seventh edition of the Desert Wheel Race” brings us another golden opportunity to love ourselves unconditionally. It is that time to say that the (DIS)abled are ours and we are them, a time to display love and compassion.
The Northern Nomadic Disabled Persons’ Organization (NONDO), the organizers of the race have unveiled the theme for this year’s event: “Let’s Make A child Walk” a five-word insignia that must stimulate our emotions in the belief that for sure ‘disability is not inability’
We have been sitting, only twiddling our fingers for far too long and watched from our terraces, we have kept quiet for far too long and closed our ears from their entreaty and so we did not look the (DIS)abled with eyes of sympathy.
For the years that we have lived on this earth, we have witnessed the trouble and vexation of the contemporary world. For all, access to the basics of life is a daily struggle but the bane of life of the (DIS)abled is huge, it is a matter life and death where the struggle for identity and inclusion overshadows the real meaning of their life.
The struggle in the North for the (DIS) abled is far monumental for everybody in the community while the (DIS) abled nomadic child bears the brunt of it all. Their childhood innocence has been ravaged let alone access to vital services such as education and health.
That child that today lives in the troubled North without a limb or arm, without an ear or an eye, without a brawn or brain leads a hard scrabbling life, suffering in silence as unabated neglect and stigma compound his existence.
The pall of poverty coupled with community inaction have exposed the (DIS)abled Northern child to vulnerable environments that wanes all hopes, further limiting their chances of progression within the community.
The curse that comes with our sheer negligence, the unceasing stigma and the abhorrent handling of the (DIS)abled will struck us one day. That day we will feel guilt and compunction. Our inexcusable regrets will only explain the insensitivity of our hearts, the lack of mercy.
Now spread the love by attending or supporting ‘The Desert Wheel Race’ in whichever way you can, small or big. Your participation and presence will go a long way in redeeming the community from the shame of laxity but much more it will illuminate the heart of the (DIS)abled and rejuvenate the innocence of the (DIS)abled child.
What is more soothing than seeing a child walking again? And what is more calming than knowing you are behind that lifetime walk to school or to the playground. Imagine the feelings that will cross the mind of that child, the sense of belonging that comes with it.
It is therefore that time to showcase our love for (DIS)abled and put up a vigil that says “Yes we love you, we are here for you because you are important” . That will be the message you will spread when you participate in the 7th edition of the Desert Wheel Race 2018”
Abdullahi Jamaa is the founder of The Plu Media, the publisher of www.theplu.co.ke, a news and information portal for Kenya Muslims. You can contact him by mail: editor@theplu.co.ke or follow him on facebook at Abdul jamaa.
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