Liberia’s Disability Community charts dignity-protection livelihood strategy

MONROVIA – Unlike celebrations of past years, there were four memorable image-lowering minuses at the 2019’s edition of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) in Liberia: It was held 17 days later than the United Nations-endorsed day (December 3), Liberia’s International Partners on disabled persons were absent; the number of participants (disabled persons) was less than 150; disabled persons in 14 of Liberia’s 15 Counties didn’t attend (due to lack of transportation fare, because UNDP didn’t support the 2019’s celebration’); and celebration was in a building with no electricity (which made the hall uncomfortably hot for most of the participants)—except the current from a medium-sized electric generation machine for a Public Address System hired for the program.

The celebration had been scheduled for Grand Bassa County, but the Organizer changed for Montserrado County, because there was no money to transport hundreds of disabled people from the other Counties, for lodging in Hotels (or Motels), besides money for feeding (breakfast and launch) and for per diem (“DSA”) The anniversary’s T-shirts had “Grand Bassa County”, showing the initially- selected host-county.

The 2019’s celebration was held on Friday, December 20 in a classroom of the William V.S. Tubman High School, located on 12th Street, Sinkor, Monrovia. The International Theme was “Promoting the Participation of Persons with Disabilities and Their Leadership, Taking Actions on 2030 Development Agenda”, with the Local Them being “The Future Is Accessible”

The Organizer of the 2019’s IDPD celebration in Liberia was the National Union of Organizations for the Disabled (NUOD), an independent body educating the public on the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Liberia.

“We wrote the UNDP, our major support-partner, several weeks ago on this celebration. But the UNDP later told us, they had expended the funding for this year’s IDPD celebration on a different project,” Mr. Heylove Mark, NUOD’s Treasurer, the program’s Emcee, responded to inquiries from some participants demanding the reason for postponement of the celebration from the UN-endorsed date to a later day (December 20)
He said only the Carter Center (an NGO founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter) and Sight Savers (an International Organization focusing much on visual impairment) came to NUOD’s rescue of making celebration of the 2019’s edition of IDPD possible in Liberia.

But the “rescue” came in relatively late.

“This program was planned in three days,” NUOD’s President Naomi B. Harris buttressed the Secretary’s clarification.
Musical presentations dominated the 2019’s celebration—unlike previous years’ celebrations of the same Event.
It started with NUOD’s National Champlain Comfort P.B. Mulbah, blind, who thrilled the audience with a song entitled “We Honor You, Baba (Father)”

Patience Johnson sang, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” from her wheelchair, followed by Sowoe Johnson, another female, with “Take All The Glory”

Before giving the “Historicity of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities”, NUOD’s President Naomi B. Harris did a Christian song: “I’ve Seen The Light”

“Just to tell you that there’s huge reservoir of talents in Liberia’s disability community, which we, disabled people, should develop or exhibit to survive,” Madam Harris said.

In her “Historicity”, she said celebration of the IDPD is not only about educating the society on the UN’s Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), but also to tell them that each person has a natural ability that can immensely contribute to nation-building when it is nurtured and promoted by all members of the Society.

“The IDPD celebration is also for telling the Society that there are numerous talents in the Disability Community that needs to be discovered, groomed, and promoted by all persons for the development of our Country,” added the NUOD’s President, crutches-mobile, who was elected President for the first time in 2016, and re-elected in 2018.

She said discovery, nurturing and promotion of talents in the Disability Community of Liberia will be her leadership’s priorities in year 2020 and that a television documentary will be a platform for this.

“This will be the first of its kind in NOUD, since the Union was formed in October, 1995. Let’s hope and pray for our local and International Development Partners to have interest in this prokect” she added.
An all-male duo, Justine Holder and John Togbay (both persons visually impaired) demonstrated a different talent, which the pair called “Alphabetical Recitation” John called the letter; Justine provided the answer.

On the last Alphabet, “Z”, Justine answered: “Z for zero. Zero is only on my exercise book, not in my practical work!”

One of the rising national music sensations from the Disability Community, Emmanuel Dango, wheelchair-mobile, couldn’t be available to thrill the audience with some of his songs from his yet-to-be-launched musical album.

“Emmanuel called me seconds ago, saying his machine is faulty, so cannot reach him to this program in time,” NUOD’s President, Madam Naomi B. Harris, relayed Emmanuel’s message to the body. “But I believe strongly we will be a part of the launch of his musical album.”

Nation-building talents of Liberia’s Disability Community members flood every part of the Liberian society: Sonorous songs by a band of visually impaired beggars touring the streets or blind men sitting with his guitar (with “Offering-collection” polythene bag tied to the head of the guitar) at public place; rib-cracking comedies by male and female disabled persons in their communities or at disability-related programs; “abandoned” paintings or woods carvings by physically challenged persons whose wheelchairs or crutches can’t take them with their artistic products to the market grounds.

But these artistic productions are most often ignored by the National Government—who should organize a ‘national program’ to develop them for benefit of the talented person and the Nation.

The Guest Speaker, Mr. Kutaka Divine Togbah, Director of Human Rights and Protection at the Ministry of Justice, representing the Minister, Musa Dean, urged his hosts to drop absolute reliance on hand-outs for survival, to using of their innate abilities.

“It’s now time you move from the charity-based approach to the capacity-building approach,” he advised.

He reiterated the George Manneh Weah-led Government’s pledge to support the Disability Community on the UN’s CRPD.
However, speaking with a group of journalists at the end of the program, the Government’s official said the Weah Government doesn’t have a statistics on the Nation’s PWDs, which would help it to know the total number of disabled people and academic qualification of each person for job placement.

Speaking to journalists on the George Weah-led Government’s promised “assistance” to various Liberia’s Disability groupings, NUOD’s President Naomi B, Harris said: “Over fifteen of NUOD’s letters are currently on the desk of the President; we haven’t received reply to any of these letters.”

During the participants’ input segment, two areas were highlighted most: capacity- building programs and “implementation” of the capacity-building ideas propounded by NUOD’s President and the Guest Speaker at the 2019’s celebration.

“I hope we won’t be having this same discussion at the next year’s celebration of the IDPD,” cautioned Benjamin Gibson, visually impaired, a Talk-Show Anchor with a local Radio Station.

Mr. Joshua Saydee Barr was the Sign Language translator for the hearing-impaired participants.

Many of the watchers of Liberia’s rights-related say successive Liberian Government’s failure to domesticate the Provisions in the UN’s Conventions for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been found as the tallest barrier to Liberia’s Disabled Persons’ enjoyment of all rights-related freedom.