Breaking the cycle of disability and poverty
Cbm Canada calls the world to act
Cbm Canada estimates that roughly 520 million people are affected by disabilities around the world. Recognizing a need for immediate attention, the organization is seeking to raise awareness and make an impact in the lives of those with special needs.
"One of the messages that we've been trying to get out in Canada, to the Canadian government, to other NGOs, and to churches is that disability should be a cross-cutting theme," says executive director Ed Epp.
Every organization, church and program should be asking whether its services are available to people with disabilities, he says. "If the answer is no, I don't think they're doing their job."
Cbm Canada stands in the gap for people with disabilities. While providing health and medical care continues to be a big concern, needs like education, livelihood, human rights, and community engagement also register among the action items being pursued by cbm.
This means assessing how they are able to "call others to do their job," in partnership programs with other organizations looking to help those with disabilities.
"One of the temptations is for organizations like cbm [Canada] is to do everything ourselves," says Epp. "I think that's wrong because you have to develop all those areas of expertise as you go."
Cbm Canada actively encourages other organizations to pursue inclusive measures within their programs. If other organizations are able to provide inclusion for disabled people within their communities, Epp notes, it alleviates the pressure of cbm Canada having to provide in areas beyond its expertise.
The World Health Organization has also noted the need to care for those with disabilities on a global scale, noting the cyclical relationship between the poverty and disability.
Poverty causes disability. People who are poorer have less access to medical facilities and nutrition, which in turn leads to a greater chance of being born with a disability or becoming disabled in later life.
Disability causes poverty. In every community in the world, families with disabilities are poorer by comparison than those without. Even in comparatively impoverished places, those with disabilities are without exception the poorest of the poor.
Around the world, many people with disabilities are often hidden within communities, making it difficult to assess the exact needs for any given population. Even so, it is important not to let those assessments label individuals as simply "disabled persons."
Epp recalls visiting a boy in Uganda with cerebral palsy. He only had limited contact with his community, having been kept in a back room for most days while his mother worked. Epp sat down with the boy, glibly asking, "How are you?" in English. To great surprise, the boy responded with "I'm fine, thank you."
"It was a good reminder that behind the lack of control he had in his body and his muscles, here was a human being with the ability to love, hate, have a relationship with people, God and all of those things," says Epp.
Recently there was a large amount of buzz regarding Im Dong Hyun of South Korea and Oscar Pistorius from South Africa, two athletes with disabilities who competed at the 2012 Olympics in London. Though the mainstream media cast both athletes in a positive light, some are concerned that the two men are celebrated more for overcoming disability than for their athletic achievements.
"I think it's problematic because you don't see them as people…I also think it lets us off the hook in that we say, 'look what this person has overcome, and that's great,' and then we ignore the fact that we don't see the person with a disability down the street as a human being," says Epp. "We only put the extra special cases on pedestals and we don't address the issues that are in front of us every day."
For Canadians, Epp stresses the importance in seeing people with disabilities the way Jesus sees them, and caring for them in a way that reflects that.
"These are human beings, and we have to see that first. They need relationships—they need friends, they need people around them."
For more information about cbm, visit www.cbmcanada.org.
View a full-page PDF of this story: SOM cbm canada 10-2012
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