An is less than an able person and can feel othered because of their. There are over 650 million people throughout the world. Most of these people face difficulties when looking for work and obtaining a job, attending school, and enjoying access to public spaces simply due to the fact that they are disabled. These difficulties are caused by the lack of availability of facilities and assistance for disabled people which results in them being denied access to spaces and therefore being excluded. In some cases, disabled people are treated unfairly due to people having lack of knowledge about certain disabilities and associated limitations. The largest and most disadvantaged minority of the world’s population is made up of disabled people. Approximately 637000 000 disabled children do not attend school. About 20% of the poorest people around the globe are disabled. This is clearly a very big issue in our world. In South Africa, approximately 7,5% of the population have physical disabilities that’s 2.8 million people that are potentially being discriminated against because of something that they have no control over.
I have witnessed this type of discrimination being directed toward one of my family members. My uncle, Chris, is schizophrenic. He is 32 years old and has been denied many things in life due to his mental illness. When going to shopping malls with him I notice that not only does he get rude stares from people but I have occasionally heard people state that he has to leave the store because “he makes people uncomfortable”. Watching this take place is heartbreaking. Due to rude comments such as this one I have seen his self-esteem deteriorate over years to the point where he does not like to leave his house or interact with strangers. I have even noticed how this discrimination has impacted his mental health as he was recently put on anti-depression pills. My uncle has had to endure a lot of hardship throughout his life and people treating him like this adds to his hardships.
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This type of discrimination will continue to take place if people are not educated on different disabilities and the associated limitations and if facilities and structures are not put in place to assist disabled people. Ignorance when dealing with this issue will cause problems. Many people may not see denying a person access to a building as a form of exclusion, but it is. This seemingly minor inconvenience may make this person feel as though they do not belong in the community and that they are unwanted. Not knowing the exclusion of the effects can have on people, can result in people feeling ignored, and irrelevant, and can impact their mental health negatively. I think that most often people are unaware of how hurtful their comments and actions can be and the impact that they can have on a person and their self-esteem. Therefore, is it important that we educate ourselves and others on this issue to prevent excluding people from society.
There is an organization that is helping solve part of this issue of discrimination against disabled people, it is known as Rebuilding Together. Rebuilding Together is a non-profit organization that is based in the United States of America. This organization rehabilitates homes and public spaces for movement-impaired people by providing ramps to allow for wheelchair access. Rebuilding Together has over 100,000 volunteers working for it each year and has managed to repair more than 10,000 homes across America. It was started 22 years by the CEO Caroline Blakey ago and is still operational. It has redesigned over 210,000 public spaces and homes for disabled people. This organization has been extremely effective in preventing discrimination against physically disabled people by allowing them easy access to public spaces and ensuring that they are not treated unfairly due to their disability. This results in disabled people being able to have more normal lives and ensures that they are not being excluded from the community. However, this organization is preventing the discrimination and exclusion of physically disabled people only and does not prevent the discrimination of mentally disabled people. However, it is a step in the right direction and may inspire more people to acknowledge the disabled more in general and be conscious of how they treat these people preventing the general mistreatment of disabled people.
There are a lot of opportunities for Rebuilding Together in South Africa. South Africa has a lack of facilities for disabled people. There are minimal ramps in shopping centers, schools, and offices. Therefore, Rebuilding Together could contribute a lot towards providing the assistance required by the physically disabled people in South Africa. This organization could be operated in South Africa by recruiting people who are currently unemployed. This would be beneficial since South Africa has access ramps and installing railing would not only provide access to public spaces for the disabled but would also provide job opportunities for the unemployed. However, in order for this program to be successful in South Africa donations from citizens and government would have to be made. South Africa has a painful history it is important that we as South Africans ensure that all forms of discrimination are prevented and that we as a community work together to love each other and all of our differences.
I will contribute to preventing the discrimination of the physically and mentally disabled by including and treating them with respect and kindness. I hope to solve this issue of exclusion and dehumanization of disabled people. I plan to do this by simply treating these members of our society as I treat all others and not staring or laughing at them and helping them in any way possible. In doing this I will hopefully make this person feel more valuable and included in the community and provide them with a sense of belonging. I also hope to set an example for the people around me as they witness how I am able to treat disabled people with kindness, respect, and care, the same as any other human being. Education and knowledge about this type of discrimination are vital. Therefore, I will do further research on the topic and continuously try to educate myself in relation to this discrimination and the hardships disabled people face on a daily basis. I will also try to raise awareness about this issue we see in our society. This type of discrimination is not discussed often and it is not very well known. I will use my social media platforms such as Instagram to post information about this discrimination and how society can help to prevent it, like through supporting organizations such as Rebuilding Together. This will hopefully help raise awareness and inform people about this issue and help encourage people to act against it by being mindful of disabled people and by treating them with respect.
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