In Ethiopia disabled people get jobs, not hand-outs
In the streets of the Ethiopian capital hundreds of disabled people
beg, some from makeshift wheelchairs, the less fortunate dragging
themselves on their hands from car to car.
Disabled people are seldom taken care of by institutions here; mostly
they are either left to their own devices on the street or kept behind
closed doors because their families are ashamed of them.
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Ethiopian Shemsia Hiyar, 38, one of
the beneficiaries of the International Labor Organization’s
(ILO) programs for the disabled in Ethiopia, works in her
workshop where she makes leather bags. AFP |
“The traditional perception is that a child with disabilities is the
result of a curse, or the work of the devil,” said Fantahun Melles, who
heads the International Labour Organization’s programs for the disabled
in Ethiopia.
“The situation is worse in the countryside than in the cities.
Generally speaking, people think the only place for a disabled person is
in the street to beg or in front of a church, otherwise they are ...
segregated from the community, which can lead to serious mental
disorders,” he told AFP.
The ILO has set up a program, with funding from Ireland, in an
attempt to reintegrate disabled people into society through training
courses, raising awareness and encouraging solidarity among disabled
people.
Shemsia Hiyar, 38, one of the beneficiaries of the program, has a
small corrugated iron workshop in a working class district of Addis
Ababa, where she makes leather bags.
“I never dreamt of having my own business, but today, even if I’m
still facing challenges, I’m happy. I earn about 500 birr a month, but
it can fluctuate and I employ five people including two women with
disabilities,” she told AFP.
Five hundred birr, equivalent to about 25 euros, is more than the
average monthly salaray in Ethiopia, a poor Horn of Africa country with
some 80 million inhabitants.
“I hate two things in life: dependency and begging. This program has
changed my life and now even my family’s perception of disabilities has
changed because I’m not dependent on them, and because sometimes I even
earn more than them,” Shemsia said, leaning on a crutch.
An accident left her with one leg shorter than the other.
Statistics on disabled people are hard to come by in Ethiopia.
“The estimation is between seven and 10 percent of the population
living with disabilities. For them the poverty level is far greater, and
they suffer from discrimination,” ILO’s Fantahun said.
The ILO set up its programme six years ago and since then more than
1,100 disabled Ethiopian women have undergone training while new laws
have been passed to improve the status of handicapped people, notably in
the world of work.
Yetnebersh Nigussie, 26, is a young blind woman full of energy. She
studied law and now works in an NGO that helps disabled people. She has
also started a school for underprivileged children.
“Education changed my life so I wanted to provide this weapon to
other kids. Education is a tool for independence. Blindness has been my
chance because I come from a poor rural family where girls are married
very young, like at eight years old,” she told AFP.
AFP
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