Black scarves covering
the eyes of children, scattered chairs and tables... It might
have seemed like a game of blind-mans bluff gone out of control,
or perhaps the making of a movie, but in fact it was a Turkmen
National Society of Red Crescent activity. The seminar “Accessible
Society” focused on the problems people with disabilities
face every day, including their relationships with other people,
not being able to see and hear like everyone else, and not being
able to move freely.
Understanding the problems
During the seminar, many questions were asked: Do disabled people
have the same rights as other people? Can we call the society
“healthy” if there is not a place for people with
disabilities? The participants tried to reply. To find the right
answers they needed to understand the situation of disabled
persons. Through activities such as “blind or deaf life”,
they gained a deeper understanding of what it is like to live
with a disability. They used black scarves to cover their eyes
while a guide led them through a series of obstacles. With their
eyes blindfolded, the participants realized not only the difficulties
of being blind, but also the responsibilities of others disabled
persons.
The main goal of the seminar was for school children to become
aware about the different forms of disabilities, to know of
the needs of disabled people, and how to treat them. If we can
treat the disabled as members of our society and accept them
as they are – we will have a healthy, humanitarian society.
Overcoming the obstacles
The participants were interested in forms of disability, and
after arriving at the seminar carefully and intently filled
out the questionnaire “What is it to be disabled?”
During the seminar they learned about various forms of mental
disabilities such as Downs syndrome and autism, and they were
given information on how to treat people with mental disabilities.
The exercise, “The map for me ” compelled participants
to think about their local environment and every day activities,
and how they differ from the activities of disabled people.
These exercises, using visual demonstrations, showed the participants
how society can better help the disabled manage their daily
activities. The boys and girls wanted to find ways to overcome
these obstacles and make society more accessible for everyone.
The seminar helped these young people to better understand their
role and responsibility in society related to those who, because
of their disabilities, find their lives restricted but not their
feelings and emotions. Even though much of the seminar was only
games and activities, the children had the possibility to understand
how difficult fighting with daily obstacles can be, especially
when you cannot find support.
Spreading the information
The hope is that the participants will take the information
back to their schools and communities. The National Red Crescent
Society of Turkmenistan also plans to conduct follow up with
participatory research activities using the former participants
as facilitators for small, community based projects aimed at
improving the lives of people living with disabilities in Turkmenistan.
A sign that this project is off to a good start emerged right
after the seminar, when three young boys came to youth center
to volunteer, saying “we would like to help people...”
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| Youth in Turkmenistan
focused on the problems of disabled people in their society
in the seminar "Accessible Society", arranged
by Turkmen National Society of Red Crescent. |
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| Learning by doing.
In order to understand the difficulties of people living
with disabilities have in their everyday lives, the young
participants went through a number of exercises while
being limitted in the same way as the disabled. For example
walking around or drawing a picture while blindfolded. |
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