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Sensitise children on discrimination against PWDs–Advocate
Ms. Martha Awuley Lartey an Advocate for PWDs
A District Coordinator of the Ministry to Persons With Disability (MPWD) for the Church of Pentecost, (New Moneomanye District in Ashaiman), Ms Martha AwuleyLarteysays advocacy against discrimination towards Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) must be focused more on children.
“I am of the view that, the young would likely grow up with the message of showing them (children with disabilities) the love of God and also pass the information on to their peers so that together, we can make the world a better place for all PWDs,” she said.
In an interview with The Spectator on Saturday about how to get more people to be responsible around PWDs, the District Coordinator said, there was the need for a more aggressive advocacy in churches and schools especially through children’s programmes.
“It is important for us to let our children know that any of us could become disabled at any time and when we do, how would we like to be treated by the society and the people we live with”? she questioned.
She said road crashes, domestic accidents, medical negligence or such related cases could make a person disabled, a situation that must be explained to the children in the simplest terms.
MsLartey said when children were well informed, they would hardly treat their disabled peers with disrespect.
She observed that some adults who treated persons with disability with disrespect even went further to encourage their younger ones to do same.
The District Coordinator described the trend as ‘unfortunate’ and a matter of concern especially when such persons found themselves in that situation through no fault of theirs.
She said, it was a disturbing situation that called for more advocacy works to draw the attention of the public.
“Disability is not infectious and so there is no need to put up unacceptable behaviours such as avoiding them when they get closer in a vehicle or a social gathering,” she said.
She explained that aside her advocacy at churches, she had taken her passion to schools as she target school children to appreciate the concerns of persons with disabilities and treat them well.
From DzifaTettehTay, Ashaiman.