ThisAbility campaign for the physically challenged comes to Lagos

By Perpetual Egesimba

The World ThisAbility Campaign, driven by the need to actively support and encourage people living with various forms of disabilities in society, is set to make its debut in Lagos.

Themed “World ThisAbility Campaign, Lagos 2017,” the campaign will feature a seminar, a walk and a concert. The programme is in line with the United Nation’s (UN) annual International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), usually marked on December 3. The World ThisAbility Campaign is being organised by BJ Capital Limited and the Love and Relate Foundation.

According to the lead Ccnvener, Bobjoe Paulinus, the term “ThisAbility” was created “out of the need to celebrate, empower and encourage people in society, living with various forms of disability from a position of strength and not weakness, from a position of ‘I can’ and not ‘help me’ and from a position of empathy and not sympathy.

“As caring individuals, we must also do our best to support and encourage people living with disabilities, not to dwell on self-pity but work on changing the general mindset that stems from self-pity.

“The physically-challenged must be encouraged to see themselves as the same with others who may not have such challenges. As part of the larger society, they can also contribute their quota to development,” he said.

In his remark, the project coordinator, Richard Njoku, described the project as a paradigm shift in the regular activities of the annual programme to promote the strengths and not the vulnerabilities of the physically-challenged.

“Our mission is to stay in line with the United Nation’s annually-celebrated IDPD so as to foster societal integration, empowerment and protection of the physically-challenged as well as their basic human rights,” he said.

This year’s campaign will be led with the hashtag “#EmpowerWithEmpathy.” Physically-challenged persons and their friends can showcase their talents to the world through which they demonstrate their commitment to the core values of self-confidence, self-esteem, value-creation, taking responsibility and developing a strong personality.

The orgainsers have called on members of the public to visit their website www.worldthisabilitycampaign.org or on Facebook at World ThisAbility Campaign for more information on the campaign.