‘Disability Not For One Person’ – Organization of Disabled President Cautions

Monrovia – The President of the National Union of Organization of Disabled (NUOD) has cautioned persons with no physical deformity to desist from ill-treating persons with disabilities through actions or words.

“Disability is not for one person,” Ms. Naomi B. Harris, President of NUOD, cautioned anybody thinking that this abnormal bodily condition is reserved person with it.

Speaking further, Ms. Harris said: “Today, I am disabled; tomorrow, you could be disabled.”

Ms. Harris, moves in crutches, made the caveat at a one-day human rights training organized by organized by the National Association of Disabled Advocates (NADA), in collaboration with the National Union for Organizations for the Disabled (NUOD) of Liberia, held on 31^st of March, 2017, at the Eco Hotel on 14^th Street in  Sinkor, Monrovia.

Ms. Harris is NUOD’s first female President, elected at the Union’s General Assembly/Presidential and vice Presidential elections on March 17, 2017.

The Training, titled “Collaborative Training Session on the Referral Pathway with National Government Officials”, was about getting Liberia’s disabled groups on the Country’s Civic voter education campaign.

The Training, sponsored by the United Nations Missions in Liberia (UNMIL),  is one of the Government of Liberia’s Quick Impact Projects. 

Ms. Harris’ immediate predecessor, Rev. Fallah Boima, visually impaired, also cautioned on society’s negative perception or treatment of persons with disabilities. “Disability has no boundary, it knows nobody, and it knows no profession,” he said.

Giving his Welcome Remarks earlier, Mr. B. M. William Yarsiah, Director of National Association of Disabled Advocates (NADA) said the Training Session was all about civic education for disabled persons on how they could participate in the electoral process of Liberia from beginning to end.

“This Training Session is to equip us, members of the disabled community of Liberia, to take the civic voter education message to disabled people in rural parts of the Country,” he added.

The Ministry of Justice’s representative at the Session, Mr. Kutaka Togbah, said some members of the Liberian society think a disabled person is a witch or wizards, which is a major causal factor of violation of their human rights.

“One of the problems of maltreatment of persons with disabilities derives from many people’s feelings of the disabled person being a witch or a wizard,” Mr. Togbah, who spoke on the topic, “Referral Pathway”, observed.

The Training session was spiced with gospel songs by Christian songs by Benjamin Y.W. Gibson (visually impaired) and jokes by Ms. Evelyn N. Konneh (MC of the Training Session)

Physical deformity (popularly called disability) derives from Polio, improper treatment (syringe insertion) by a quack posing as a ‘doctor’, or from motor accident that was not treated at a hospital in time.  

Report by Samuel G. Dweh/Freelance Journalist,
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