Supporting Disabled Artisans
Stuffing toys at People’s Church
Couple of days ago I spent a wonderful morning at the People’s Church in Toronto with a Sunday morning group for the disabled. We were jointly stuffing toys sewn to Mamaa Trade by Lugoro Tutte Disabled group. That was a fun way to build bridges between people with disabilities across the Atlantic. It was also a good way of celebrating the International Day of People with Disabilities which happens to take place today.
During our workshop we talked about the situation of disabled in Uganda and more particularly about the Lugoro Tutte group in Gulu, Northern part of Uganda, area that was until recently devastated by civil war and the rebel movement of Lords Resistance Army with it’s infamous leader Joseph Kony.
According to ILO data approximately 16% of the population in Uganda has a disability. Many people still carry the effects of poor immunization - polio or other preventable childhood diseases have left them paralyzed.
People with disability face many obstacles in their lives, both here and in Uganda, but in a developing country their lives tend to be much harder. They are less likely to get to school and find employment. They are more vulnerable to abuse and neglect, and most times live in extreme poverty.
Disability and poverty are linked in many ways. Poverty increases the likelihood of disability and disability the likelihood of living in poverty. In places where there is no social security system in place servicing the special needs of people with disabilities, life is hard. For our parter groups in Gulu and Kampala just to get around to buy fabrics and to take care of the business is complicated - there is no local transport that could take in people with wheelchairs and organizing a special transport if expensive. And fellow citizens are normally also not welcoming either. While Canada has anti-discrimination laws that make it illegal to make e.g. employment decisions based on someone’s disability, this does not apply to Uganda, and people with disabilities find it hard to find employment while facing also other kinds of discrimination and stigmatization.
The two groups we are working with: Kampala Disabled Initiatives (KDI) and Lugoro Tutte provide employment and income for people with disabilities. KDI is a long-term partner for me personally already from the times I was leading the Estonian NGO Mondo. Our NGO tried to support people living with disabilities in Kampala first by establishing a cafeteria which would offer employment to these groups and at the same time fight their stigmatization. However, as the cafe proved not to be economically feasible, we supported the former employees in their various career paths. A couple of the ladies started their own tailoring workshop which has by now grown to involve more than 10 women with disabilities. Mondo has sent different volunteers to Kampala to help the women in designing new products, improve their quality and market the products not only in Uganda but also globally. You can check out their beautiful kitenge products here.
Lugoro Tutte group get also support from EU Aid Volunteers who are there to see how they could help in getting the group’s products to the market. As this area is also just recovering from armed conflict the circumstances are even harder and poorer than in the capital Kampala, But the hard-working members of the Lugoro Tutte group are not discouraged. Their long term dream is to establish a centre to the town of Gulu where disabled people would find a place to gather and enjoy each others company. Like we were enjoying ourselves at the People’s Church on Sunday. In the centre they could also learn vocational skills and find employment. With each purchase of their cute African savannah animals we are helping to bring their dream closer to reality.
Olivia Naava is the leader of the Kampala Disabled Initiatives.
Funky African savannah animals sewn by disabled artisans in Uganda and stuffed by disabled in Toronto. Cooperation across the Atlantic!