Ability Family-lympicsWe conduct different activities under this program to support and meet the mental, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of people with disability.
a) Life comes with a parent – “Not a manual”
There is no better way to put it than the saying “Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a mother/father!” We are often faced with unique challenges in every stage of our lives which sometimes makes us wish we had a manual on how to navigate through, but since there is no manual to life, we often have to keep trying, guessing, and learning through experience. If you are privileged to have a mother/ father it is an advantage and if the mother/ father is supportive then it’s a double privilege since they can be there for you to help you maneuver through every stage of life and make the best of it.
The role of being a mother/father is not easy either and when you are a parent with a disability or you have a child with a disability it becomes more challenging to perform your obligations as well as apparent. Some parents have given up and walked out of their children, either leaving them with a single parent to care for them or even worse, sometimes leaving them completely without a parent but in the hands of well-wishers to care for them. Despite this heart-breaking situation that is not a new thing in several low-income communities, we acknowledge and appreciate that despite the challenges that come with being a parent with a disability and/or being a parent to a child living with disability, some mothers and fathers go to extremes to ensure they become the best version of themselves as parents despite the disability, discrimination, and barriers associated with the situation.
It is on this note that we seek partnerships with other like-minded individuals and organizations to celebrate the men and women who are both biological and foster parents living with disability and/or of children with disability on the yearly Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. We welcome the public to nominate themselves or a parent you know is doing great out there to give the best care to their children with disability. Once we receive the nominations, we have a yearly activity to celebrate the men and women who have stuck with their families and continue to be a good example and encouragement to others.
b) Ability Family-Olympics
Sports has over the years been used as a unifier. It is a good icebreaker and helps individuals all over the world to meet new people and build great relationships when they connect and exchange cultures and ideas through different exciting activities. Not only is the impact of family on persons with disability so crucial, but we understand that everyone’s initial learning and socialization is normally 80% influenced by their families as the primary social group. The same family is the foundation of all other institutions that exist in the world and it determines a lot both positively and negatively how individuals and other institutions turn out to be. A good number of the families we reach out to have lived with their members with disability as strangers, even though they are families joined by blood. This is partly because they barely get to understand the needs, likes, and dislikes of these members with disability, and partly because of the barriers that come as a result of the disabilities.
Family Olympics offers a variety of disability-friendly activities through which the members create more beautiful relationships and connections that can help propel their relationship to a great level of oneness as they enjoy the diversity and warmth that each member brings on board. As we create this great bond through sports, we also get to enjoy both the physical and psychological benefits that come with sports. When a child is born, the parents and the community at large are normally very happy and embrace the newest member of the family with open arms. The narrative sometimes changes or is different when the same child turns out to be having a disability or even acquiring disability in the course of their lifetime. This has sometimes created a situation where one parent may opt out, leaving the responsibility of taking care of these children with disability to one parent. In some cases, both parents will agree to remain and take care of the child despite the disability. In other instances, these children have been abandoned by their families and ended up in the hands of well-wishers who eventually become their families even though they are not related by blood.
The contests will require family members of the people with disability (blood or adopted) to form teams and register to participate in different activities depending on the disability of their members and start preparing for the same way in advance. In doing this, we aim to create a good environment for the family to bond before, during, and after the contest as they embrace the inclusion agenda. One unique thing about our Ability Family Olympics is that everybody is a winner in their way, and we encourage all participants to continue coming up with different ways and means to have the best relations and cooperation with their families. ICS in partnership with different individuals and groups conducts the ability family Olympics annually. The Olympics will provide a unique opportunity for all persons with disability together with their families and other caregivers to showcase their unique talents and how best they can work together to create a strong team by participating in different disability-friendly
c) Pad-a-Friend
When we talk about “padding-a-friend”, we mean padding during the menstrual period and other reproductive health-related matters, as well as padding against gender-based violence among other retrogressive cultural practices that are harmful and dehumanizing to girls and women with a disability but remain a norm in most poor communities of developing countries.
Acknowledging that reproductive health and menstrual hygiene remain an important part of female well-being and without access to affordable sanitary products, women and girls use unhygienic materials like newspapers and old rags as access to clean water, soap, and a private place to go to the bathroom which is all critical to effective menstrual hygiene management remains a far-fetched dream especially for the women and girls from low-income areas and the situations gets worse for those with a disability who are still subjected to menstrual prejudice.
In making our contribution to promoting global sustainability goal number three (3) on good health and well-being of girls and women with disability through better and more accessible health systems to increase their life expectancy, we have created safe spaces and networks where the girls and women with disability together with their caregivers can connect, and find solace as they craft solutions related to their specific reproductive health-related issues, female genital mutilation (FGM), and other forms of gender-based violence. In these networks, we meet, engage, and share experiences in a peer-to-peer engagement and at the end of the sessions every female participant takes home a hamper of sanitary towels that is enough to take them for the next three months. We aim to make these beneficiaries as comfortable as possible so that they can feel more confident and boost their self-esteem, school performance, and interpersonal relations. During the annual international celebration days in line with our pad-a-friend vision, we take time to break down and simplify important information concerning their individual and communal issues as we envision a future where every girl and woman with a disability will be fully “padded” never to worry about the above-mentioned challenges. You can be part of this program by volunteering your skills and knowledge in group and individual mentorship, as well as supporting financially or with a sanitary towels’ hamper to pad-a-friend.