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When Bendición María Ocheido was two years old, she became ill and was taken to the hospital where she was given an injection. Soon after, the injection site began to bleed. She was taken back to the hospital and the doctor said everything would be fine. .
They went home, and at home she fell and couldn’t walk. The fall had affected her sciatic nerve and had her paralyzed from the waist to the feet.
Then his struggle began. As a child, she sought to grow up “to write bestsellers. . . books that turn pages all over the world,” he said. She “also sought to do everything she required of me to help the children. “, I sought to be a pediatrician.
“I had a lot of things I wanted to do. I wanted to be in the arts, at the same time, I was looking to do science. One thing that remained constant was my love of writing and getting better every day. network where I locate myself and only locate small tactics to make people’s lives better and happier,” he said.
Her chemistry teacher prompted her to study pharmacy and instead she continued. But achieving this purpose had its own challenges, given that she has a disability.
“I was fortunate to have been born to parents who had an education in high esteem and who did not see another of my brothers. They made sure they gave me the same point of schooling and that nothing stopped me. But then some schools almost slam the door in my face. I think I’m one of the lucky ones because I still graduated as a pharmacist. Other people like me don’t get the same kind of care as me, from my family, my network and the kind of education I’ve received. “
growing up disabled
For Blessing, this “must be the hardest thing” he’s ever experienced and “probably to this day,” he said.
Fortunately, her parents did not treat her differently. They enjoyed it and gave it the same opportunities as their brothers. But she understands that she is one of the lucky ones.
Recounting a party on a net in Benue, Blessing said: “. . . we have spoken to the leaders of the network and the families to allow us to talk to their children, because some of those young people are in hiding because they are objects of shame. Maybe a punishment from God or anything like that. They are not allowed to talk to others, go to school, or move on to public places.
She walked through elementary and middle school without much difficulty, and she had friends who were willing for her to move around in her wheelchair. But things took another turn when he tried to get into college.
A school told her she couldn’t be admitted because they had mandatory training sessions every weekend and were sure she couldn’t participate.
“Living in Nigeria with a disability is extremely complicated. Yes, it’s not easy everywhere, but in Nigeria it’s more complicated because society isn’t structured to welcome other people like me. I wasn’t born with a disability. I had trouble accessing public buildings or transportation systems. Even other people’s belief about other people with disabilities has been very disappointing. “
He had to struggle with his walker, climbing stairs to take up categories on the most sensitive terrain of his school. Her classmates had to carry her on their backs and some teachers were almost angry at her “for having a disability and coming to school. “He had to find tactics to install ramps around school buildings, hostels and in his personal school accommodation.
People threw cash at him, thinking he was begging for alms, because he was in his wheelchair on the streets. it was a struggle,” he said.
But Blessing persisted, went and graduated from Ahmadu Bello University with a degree in pharmacy.
Today, she is helping other people with disabilities live their lives and achieve the purpose they have set for themselves.
Living your dreams and protecting the rights of others with disabilities
Blessing, who most recently worked for Nigeria’s federal government in Abuja, is lately fulfilling his dream of being a writer during his formative years. She runs the Marie Bee Academy, which provides online instruction for English (Second Language), IELTS, SAT, etc. provides writing and editing, as well as consulting for others looking to migrate to paint and study.
Blessing, along with some of her friends, founded the Platinum Interventions Care Initiative to advocate for the rights of others with disabilities, women’s rights, and children’s rights.
“It was created in 2017 by me and 3 other young people. We wanted to take on some of society’s ills in our own way. Eventually, we grew to a point where we were able to establish structures to help other people. with disability: installation of ramps in public buildings (more than one hundred ramps installed to date); distribution of assistive devices; organization of stakeholder meetings on the implementation of the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as awareness marches on the subject. We have also organized ICT trainings for other people with disabilities. We have done a lot over the years to ensure that other people with disabilities, especially women and children, are supported, that their rights are protected and that they are economically autonomous. “enough, so that they can lend their voice in the problems they face,” Blessing said.
“Our team is made up of 7 other people. We are usually volunteers as there is no monetary aid to employ the full staff. We do this only out of conviction and hobby for the progress of the network and also for the lives of other people with disabilities. “as women and young people in general.
Blessing is also the organizer of #RampUpNigeria, an initiative to install ramps across the country to make it less difficult for others to move around in wheelchairs or other assistive devices.
Challenges in executing the Platinum Interventions Care initiative
A major challenge for Blessing and his team is mastery of funding. And they received grants to carry out their projects, they had to make most of their paintings from their own wallet and this limited their impact. “We remain hopeful and continue to make sure we don’t give up and do what we can for the community. “
“Another challenge is the mindset of other people when we try to teach them about the rights of other people with disabilities. People slammed the door in our faces, other people spoke rudely to us and some threatened us,” he added.
However, Blessing and his team have gotten “great help from others who have dedicated their time to our cause; come with us to raise awareness, in remote villages and places, to help other people with disabilities. “
Impaction
“Every task done has had an impact,” Blessing said, adding that “they come with fun memories because of our hobby and we are grateful for what we’ve done so far. “
But there are two incidents that stood out for Blessing:
“The first is the case of the young man we met at Government College Nyanya, who used a wheelchair to go to school from a very remote community. When we find him in trouble, but with the hobby of moving on to school, we organize the whole school just to make sure he can move around without having to leave his wheelchair. stress-free school. This is one of the most striking things we’ve ever done. “
“And then, the COVID-19 pandemic, we approach remote communities in Benue and Nasarawa states. In Benue State, we went to really hidden places, places where other people wouldn’t normally have to go because we learned that other people with the disabilities in that network didn’t have visibility. So we talked to the network leaders and the families to allow us to talk to their young people, because some of those young people are in hiding because they are noticed as objects of shame. Maybe a punishment from God or something like that. They are not allowed to talk to others, go to school, or move on to public places. We were able to bring many young women in combination and offer them free ICT education for 2-3 weeks, as well as provide assistive devices to those who needed them.
“This is one of the most important jobs we’ve done for me because we learned that after the COVID-19 shutdown, a lot of other people were stuck at home and they may just work online and a lot of other people with disabilities were cut off from this update. since they did not have this knowledge. They were also unable to participate in online forums.
Blessing and his team are very proud of the paintings they’ve done so far, and this is something we “wish we’ve continued to do: exercise other people with disabilities and empower them to achieve their goals,” he said.
“As a user with a disability, I perceive that one of the most difficult things is having to count on other people for our livelihood. That’s why I focus on accessibility and mobility devices, as well as economic empowerment, so that other people with disabilities can have something to say in their lives. It also reduces the occurrence of sexual and domestic violence, as they can help themselves and their other young people. These are the things we must continue to do, especially in remote and underserved areas of the country. If we can get assistance in this area, it will be a big step towards educating more women and creating small businesses for them that they can run on their own.
What can I do?
Blessing believes that making discrimination against other people with disabilities something from beyond is something we all want to come together for.
“It just adjusts our perception. It comes with education. Just teach the other people around you when they say malicious things. Sometimes they are planned or out of ignorance. Educate other people to show empathy and emotional intelligence. In addition, educate other people about the rights of other people with disabilities. That other people with disabilities are not subject to pity, that they are not a curse from God or a burden to their families or society or “things” that you hide in your home. These are not “things” you want to “fix. ” You don’t have to push them on miraculous crusades when you see them, he added.
He also believes that accessibility is another transformative tool for other people living with disabilities. “If society can be accessible, beyond anything else, seeing other people with disabilities participate in society at large will dispel some of those perceptions about disability. When you grow up watching a disabled user go to school and/or work, as well as worrying about social decision-making, you start to settle in knowing that it’s. . . So yes, education, representation and accessibility will be to counter discrimination against other people with disabilities.
What can governments do?
It’s 2019, the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Bill or the Disability Rights Bill was enacted in Nigeria. This law aims at the rights of people with disabilities in terms of accessibility, education, employment, public services, among others. the law also provides for fines for other persons who violate the precepts of the law.
“Now it helps a lot in a way, at least there’s a law that we can turn to when people’s rights are violated,” Blessing said, adding “but we still have a long way to go in terms of implementation. “
“I don’t forget that when we were looking to release the facts about this law to the public, I went to a stop at some of the key stakeholders involved in this case and found that most of their offices were not available. We can see that the challenge comes from within. Therefore, governments start on their own and make sure that offices are available to other people with disabilities. They also employ people with disabilities in agencies or departments guilty of implementing and tracking court cases that oppose those laws. . So when other people with disabilities come to those offices, someone can perceive their scenario and find the most productive tactics to solve their challenges. »
Blessing’s last words on this topic sum up all his paintings advocating for the rights of other people with disabilities: “There are more than 25 million Nigerians with disabilities in 2019. We have a long way to go and we have to take everyone because it is an abundant population. You can raise value.
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Photo credit: Instagram – @marieblizz
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