Foundation honours World Disability Month
She believes that the overall cultural consciousness on how we treat and interact with disability needs to change.
Founder of Jems Foundation, Melina Singh strongly believes that disabled people or partially-able people must be treated with great respect and dignity. World Disability Month is commemorated in November annually and celebrates differently-abled individuals.
“The solution to the problem is community. People with disabilities are the largest minority group any person can join at any time. Disability will affect the lives of everyone during their life and it is time society changed to acknowledge this. Disabled lives are lives, and are charged with inherent dignity. Most people with disabilities don’t wish they had never been born, most people with disabilities contribute to the world they inhabit. Most people with disabilities both give more to and get more from life than their non-disabled peers may be inclined to guess. Some have rich lives despite their disability, but others would say they have rich lives at least in part because of their disability.”
She believes that the overall cultural consciousness on how we treat and interact with disability needs to change.
“This has to begin in schools. We need to celebrate our peers for their differences. If this is taught at a young age, less discrimination and more social inclusion will occur. Having children with and without disabilities learning side-by-side helps everybody appreciate the talents and gifts all children bring with them. As a society, we have the responsibility to promote the inclusion of our differences. Let us become more sensitive to the partially able people in our community. Dare the difference and the difference will deliver.”
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