In recognition of Disability Awareness Month, that runs from 3 November to 3 December, Ann Harding Cheshire Home held a mini-parade in the community to shine a light on those living with physical disabilities.
According to the South African Government, each week of the month had a different theme. Week one was dedicated to children and young people with disabilities empowered to chart their own destiny through access to quality lifelong learning. Week two was about building environments accessible to all persons with disabilities. Whilst weeks three and four was about persons with disabilities as equal players in building inclusive economies and children and women with disabilities (feeling and being safe as equal citizens in their communities), respectively.
Jackie Kyle, the home’s fundraising manager, said to build a great awareness for people living with a physical disability they held a mini float parade. “We just feel that it is important as a home for people with physical disabilities to make people of this country more aware of people with physical disabilities and to realise they really just want to be treated like normal people and not to have special treatment.”
The design of the float was taken on by one of the volunteers and they decorated it with all sorts of tissue flowers. There were also posters made to highlight the awareness initiative. The first stop the float made was to Golden Harvest Park Parkrun, where they cheered on all the runners who reached the finish line. Then it headed to the Northgate Mall parking area as well as the Northwold Junction.
Such days are important as it is through them that people get educated on some of the misconceptions people might have towards the physically disabled. Kyle said often people see those in wheelchairs and think they either can’t hear them or understand them. “That’s entirely not true, their minds work just as perfectly as anyone else. It’s just that their legs or arms don’t work properly, all they need to be approached normally and spoken to like anyone else.”
Related Article:
Building a South Africa that is inclusive of Disability Rights this #DisabilityRightsAwarenessMonth
