Parents Urged not to Hide Children Living with Disability

By Elizabeth Angira

Worth Noting:

• Isaac Rogito, Senior disability officer from Kisii County and a member national council of people living with disability said every disabled person should enjoy his or her human rights.
• Rogito noted that there is also need to break the stereotype and stigma associated with such kind of disabilities.
• He also blamed the increasing persons living with disability and begging in the city streets and roads to be from Tanzania.
• “When you give those who are in the streets begging it becomes as business as usual, the reason as to why they are flocking at the streets, “he said.

Parents have been urged to stop hiding family members who were disabled, to stop looking down on children with disabilities and to stop abusing them.

Speaking during the commemoration of the annual international Day of Disabled Persons at Gusii stadium, County Executive Committee Member (CECM)   Erick Ongeri , said that  it is  high time people understood that children with disabilities can also change the world

“We should not to harm them but give them love,” he said.

The theme for this year is “Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fueling an accessible and equitable world.”

The day is about promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities at every level of society and development, and to raise awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of political, social, economic, and cultural life.

Ongeri urged   parents to stop hiding such children, saying that there are schools with specialists around that can help them undertake their education careers.

He cited that PWDs do have amazing talents and I’m encouraging parents to show them Love.

Isaac Rogito, Senior disability officer from Kisii County and a member national council of people living with disability said every disabled person should enjoy his or her human rights.

Rogito noted that there is also need to break the stereotype and stigma associated with such kind of disabilities.

He also blamed the increasing persons living with disability and begging in the city streets and roads to be from Tanzania.

“When you give   those who are in the streets begging it becomes as business as usual, the reason as to why they are flocking at the streets, “he said.

Rogito , these foreigners, some being used by human traffickers to collect money for them through begging that are painting a bad image to the Government that it’s doing nothing to help persons living with disabilities which is not true.

He pleaded to the parents and guardians to   accept these children, show love and embrace them so that they can have a reason to live well like others.

The CECM reiterated the commitment by the County Government to ensure that all the interests of persons living with disabilities are well catered for and called co-operation from well-wishers and the general public.

“But the government cannot reach out to all needy cases unless the public comes out to help us in identifying them,”Ongeri noted.

He appealed to wananchi to discard the social stigma associated with disabilities and avoid hiding persons with disability from the public to enable the administration to identify and classify all the people who need help, by all means and put them in respective assistive programs.

“We will activate the registration card printer for Persons with Disability domiciled at the department of Culture for the purpose of taking record so that we plan appropriately on how to help the members” ,he said.

He appealed to the leadership of persons with disabilities to always get in  touch with government to we contemplate on programs which will help empower the members for the common good of society.

Ongeri reaffirmed that the county government will put in place programs and budgetary provisions which will support the welfare of persons with disabilities.

According to World Health Organization an estimated 1.3 billion people or 1 in 6 people worldwide experience significant disability, some persons with disabilities die up to 20 years earlier than those without disabilities.