The disabled are the most damaged category of the community who are faced with serious economic and social difficulties.
At present 2.7 percent of the country’s population including ten million people are disabled who has physical disability due to continual wars.
Percentage of disabled in Afghanistan is more than 2.7 percent of the population while 650 million of disabled are in existence throughout the world which forms ten percent of the world’s population and 80 percent of them are living in developing countries.
But what is disability and who can be called people with disability?
The disabled is applied to the people who have limitations due to reasons and if facilities and possibilities are given them they can act as other ordinary individuals of the community.
The experts classify the disabilities into four types including bodily and motional disabled, mental disabled, blinds and deaf and deems untimely vaccination, war and insecurity, unawareness from educational and health standards, poverty, environmental pollution, mental and psychological pressures as main factors of appearance of disability.
The disabled are faced at present with serious economic, cultural and educational problems in the country.
The different and insulting behavior of the community with disabled, poverty and joblessness are their main problems.
The disabled unfortunately are counted the second category of people in the community, trite and negative words such as crazy, blind, deaf, lame are used against them, most of the families counts the presence of the disabled as a shame in their family, and the experts deems this type of behavior of the community against disabled arising from lack of necessary awareness regarding the factors of disability and shapes of disability.
In this report we would like assess the psychological problems that most of them are arising from different behavior of the community against them, poverty and joblessness and the responsibility of the people against the disabled.
Based belief of experts that the different behavior of the community causes the abstraction and seclusion of the disabled from the community.
A number of disabled say that the different behavior of the community and calling them on the names such as blind, deaf, lame by people puts bad effect on their soul.
They criticize the government as well for not providing the education and work groundwork for disabled and not establishing the easy access to hospitals, buildings and schools.
The disabled say that the disability is not weakness and ask the people to have good behavior against the disabled and don’t call them in other names.
Voice… My name is Janzeb, the behavior of the people is very bad with the disabled, I have seen many people who calls the disabled by names of lame, blind, deaf; for example after my leg was cut I went out of the house while I was very unrest one of the person who was coming toward me was telling see that lame person, at that moment I prayed to God to give me death, but I thank ICRC for providing the artificial leg and I can go on the way without any problem; my wish from the people is to have good behavior with disabled and don’t call them by names such as lame ….
My name is Habib Jan, I am from Nagarhar province, one of my leg is cut; the illiteracy is a problem in our community, the people are calling the disabled in different names such as lame, blind and deaf, the people should know that the disabled are whose offspring and don’t call them in these names, the disabled have numerous problems in their life and usage of these words insult them. For example I went one day to cooked bricks factory in Surkh Rood of Nangarhar I told the driver that I would like to work and load the bricks he told me that you are lame and you cannot work I told I would have contest with everyone here in loading the bricks, it happened really as I had finished my work on time than every one, I work that I have responsibility against my family.
Sometimes in sessions and parties when the people call that the lame came, it puts bad effect on me and on my family, I feel on that time as if I explode, the disabled are seriously in trouble and the government has not helped at all them; I ask the government to give the priority to disabled in clinics, schools and other governmental institutions give priority to disabled. I ask the government to give awareness to people through schools, mullahs and other institutions to behave properly with the disabled.
My Name is Gul Afzal, I am working in public awareness department of ABRAR organization; the people don’t have good behavior with the disabled when they see a disabled they call it lame or by other names though I am working a lot but the problem is this that the people are illiterate, 70 percent of the people are illiterate if the people know the rights of disabled and elders they never calling the disabled by that names so my request from the people is not to call the disabled by names such as lame .. also I would like to request the government to establish projects for them to work and be saved from problems.
I would like to request the government to help the disabled, for instance when they construct a building they should think about the disabled as well and consider the facilities for the disabled.
Beside the craft learning, literacy courses, work and practice for disabled, the ABRAR organization has put in working order the programs of public awareness for the be manner of behavior with disabled.
Dr. Abdul Baseer the director of ABRAR organization says that disability is not weakness and disabled can do every type of the work even they can do the works in some instances that the ordinary people cannot do. Based his words the disabled and other ordinary people has the same rights.
But he adds that the misbehavior of the community with disabled has cause the disappointment and seclusion of the disabled.
He deems the low awareness of the people in this regard as reason for this and says that much work should be done for raising awareness of people in regard of behavior with disabled.
Dr.Baseer asks the government and private sectors to employ the disabled on different works.
The voice: Dr.Abdul Baseer the director of ABRAR organization says that our community is an Islamic and customary community and Islam religion honor the disabled, but we have cultural problems as the people call the disabled by the names such as lame, blind and deaf, for example I asked one of my apprentice who is disabled by two legs that what he feel he replied that I don’t have problem why my legs are cut that is destiny but when some time women and girls see me in the bazaar they say (see he poor is disabled by two legs), these words sometimes put such a effect on me as if have been lifted to sky and be thrown back to the ground. This is a mercy but a negative mercy that the people should avoid from these types of words.
One day one of my apprentices told me that he was moving in the village that a person called lame! I told the name is Ahmad; this will be good if the disabled can reply in this manner to the people who are using these words.
I can say that ABRAR organization has been working in public awareness and has held workshops in this regard to the teachers in schools and other institutions.
Most of the disabled are trying to forget their disability but these callings and words coerce the disabled to feel themselves different from the community as they gradually single out from the community and the seclusion causes that the disabled think only about themselves not about the development of the country and community. Unawareness and illiteracy of the people is the reason for misbehavior of the people with disabled. The disabled cannot be weak; instead of financial support work opportunity should be prepared for them.
Establishment of craft training centers fir disabled in three districts of Kunar province, ten districts of Nangarhar province and three for Laghman province are the programs of ABRAR organization through which we provide employment groundwork for the disabled.
In spite of all of them the disabled have numerous problems that the government, national and international institutions should work seriously to problems of disabled be decreased.
It is seen that disabled are not sick and weak rather they have limitation and many abilities are hidden in their bodies and if the limitations be repelled they will act as other ordinary individuals of the community.
So we get the result that the people with disability have the same rights as other individuals of the community and they should use all the possibilities that other individuals benefiting from.
Important of all, the negative look should efface and the people should have a human and proper behavior with disabled; because the community can play good role in strengthening, acceptance and social inclusion of the disabled.
The community can perform its responsibility to human being through omission the negative look to disabled and their acceptance as homogeneous who has different ability as member human family and can prevent the disability.
The government also should establish, change and amend the strategies out of fanaticism for the assuring the social security of people and benefitting the equal rights. The government should guarantee the inclusion of people with disability in developmental projects and their economic, educational and social self-sufficiency in order to all disabled can use equally all the governmental facilities such as public services, health services, training services, transport facilities which has role in preparation of the growth of disabled.
Sajad Mohammad Radio Killid, Nangarhar.
