“Attitudes to people with disabilities have improved as far as sport is concerned…but we still have a society that is exclusive,” said Lewis Garaba, Secretary General of the Zimbabwe National Paralympic Committee. Garaba and students rights activist Masimba Kuchera, who is blind, spoke at a U.S. Embassy Food for Thought session honoring International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3rd). The day was this year marked under the theme, “Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all.”
Two years ago, Garaba was instrumental in the formation of the Zimbabwe National Paralympics Committee and this year ensured Zimbabwe's representation at the 2012 Paralympics Games in London. After the discussion, he showed participants a Youtube film, London 2012 Best Games Ever, which celebrates the achievements of Paralympians. Garaba said research shows that the Paralympic games have created a seismic shift in the way people with physical impairments are perceived throughout the world.
Both Garaba and Kuchera noted that communication remains the biggest barrier in achieving an inclusive society, insisting that disabled people must participate in public processes in order to facilitate communication.
“People with disabilities need to participate in the public processes so that it is easy to implement decisions made,” Kuchera said. “This will increase our conversation with society and our ability to discuss issues.” Kuchera, a passionate activist for people with disabilities, won a landmark constitutional court case in 2010 striking down the requirement that a visually impaired voter be assisted by four officials when voting. Today, a visually impaired voter may vote with the help of a trusted friend or relative.
Garaba and Kachera expressed concern about access to education for the disabled, noting that special schools are expensive and there is a lack of disability-friendly infrastructure. Fifteen percent of the world’s population (approximately one billion people) lives with some form of disability.
A number of disabled Zimbabweans have made landmark achievements for the nation in sports and the arts. They include Elliot Mujaji (athletics), Edmund Makutya and Alexander Mkandla (wheel chair racing), and Prudence Mabhena (music).
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