In 100% for the Children, we miss positive stories about young people with disabilities in Africa.
We want that to change with the project special accounts.
Deborah Nzisa From Mombasa, Kenya
100% for The Children previously participated in the event Ud i Fremtiden - a fair for young people with special needs. Here we met Danish young people with a great desire to be able to contribute with their skills and resources in the Danish association life. At the same time, we know that it can be difficult to equally participate with the rest of the population when you have a physical or mental disability.
People with disabilities are often a marginalized group which to varying degrees, may feel excluded from society, including from participating in the many activities of civil society. An issue that takes place both in Denmark and in Kenya. That is why it is important to tell the good stories that can inspire and engage Danish young people with disabilities to participate - also in the civil society outside of the disability area. One of those special accounts is Deborah.
Volunteering is about giving something, that you do not necessarily get back.
Deborah
Deborah has spinal cord hernia, but that does not get in the way of helping other young people in her community. In 2015, Deborah started a support group for other young people with spinal cord hernia. For her, being a volunteer means giving something that you do not necessarily get back. Deborah believes in the young people she helps, she believes that they each possess the ability to change discouragement into goodwill in the local communities. You can hear Deborah's full story in the video below.
Pennester Mutinda and Edwin Opeto from Nairobi, Kenya
Lack of access to the same rights and benefits - and in particular, the lack of recognition of being equal citizens - is commonplace for many young people with disabilities in Kenya. We want to show through the videos that young people with disabilities, even under very difficult living conditions and as a marginalized group in Kenya, can contribute and participate in the civil society.
Both Pennester and Edwin proves that. Together they have started a project where they produce soap. The sale of the soap gives them a small income. And at the same time, they get the opportunity to spread awareness about young people with disabilities in their communities. Pennester himself has a congenital deformity with partial paralysis in the legs while Edwin has a spinal cord injury.
We hope we can create some awareness as well. We will organize teaching in the local area. Here we will teach citizens in the area about people with disabilities, about their rights and how they should be treated.
Edwin
In the future, Pennester and Edwin hope that no children and young people with disabilities need to hide, but that we can all live and work together. In the video below, you can hear Edwin and Pennester talk more about their project.
Hear more from young people with disabilities explain why a disability is not the same as not being able to contribute:
"Special accounts" is funded by CISU – Civilsamfund i Udvikling.
