Living with a Disability Anywhere is a Challenge
Before 1970 in Afghanistan, ethnic and regional fighting took place with homemade weapons and on horseback. This kind of warfare resulted in the deaths of many fighters; however the weapons were typically not strong enough to hurt civilians or destroy houses.
When people in Afghanistan began to form political parties and acquire modern weapons from neighboring countries, such as Russia, Iran, Pakistan the nation saw an escalation in fighting. As a result, the number of civilians killed and maimed grew. Today, according to the United Nations, nearly two million people are living with disabilities in Afghanistan.
Living with a disability anywhere is a challenge, however in Afghanistan disabled individuals must face their personal challenges in a country that has an infrastructure deeply damaged from years of war. Resources for disabled people are poor or nonexistent in most parts of the country, and those with disabilities are not given equal rights to those who are able bodied. Many disabled people in Afghanistan feel disrespected or as if they are less than human.
I, as disabled person, see the way people with disabilities are treated and ask myself, “Why do people in Afghanistan see that way? Why do people not understand that the body is temporary?” Religions and cultures around the world view the body and soul as separate entities – Buddhists for example burn the bodies of their dead, but believe that their spirit goes on. However in Afghanistan, an injury to the body often results in a loss of respect for the individual.
When I came to America however, I saw a different kind of treatment for disabled people. American author Mike Brown wrote,
“The human spirit cannot be paralyzed. If you are breathing, you can dream.”
There are no limits in America to what disabled people can achieve.
Two Millions Disabled Found in Afghanistan
Last week, an Afghan daily newspaper interviewed a United Nation employee in Kabul who works as UN representative for Disabled.
Mrs. Shayan Irahim a UN representative for disabled announced, that there are approximately 2 million disabled in Afghanistan. During a news interview she said” so far around 100,000 disabled have been registered, however the government plans to register all disabled in order to help them. She also mentioned, "Considering the situation of Afghanistan disabled needs basic health care, financial and educational assistance”. In order to do so, the government and international community help this vulnerable part of Afghan society. She said that, there are language-training courses in 18 provinces of Afghanistan. Yet, there are 2000 students in these classes and sooner the number of student will be increased to 4000. She mentioned that, in order to deliver these services we need about 10 million dollars. She was asked that where Afghanistan is standing now in terms of the number of Disabled, she said " the approximate rough estimation of Afghanistan is around 24 million and this number lower the number of disabled living in developed countries”.
Translated From Farsi to English:
Alternative
The everlasting war of three decades in Afghanistan left behind over 2 millions disabled. In a society like Afghanistan where millions of physically normal people suffer from hanger, disables in a disparate need are more victims of poverty and hopelessness. Their situation is completely different from others, they have families and children and most of them are considered as the only one source of food bearer to the families and children.
This big army of disabled needs special attention and a big change in their life. Only provision of artificial limbs with very low quality will not affect their life. They depend on assistance from the Afghan government where the Afghan government itself relies on international assistance. They need houses, they need food and they need jobs. The government alone may not be able to provide them such a very basic Necessities. NGOs and United nations and with the presence of international forces in the country they all must have to do something in order to bring a positive change in their life and convert them to useful and productive elements of their societies. They are not mentally ill, they are just physically disabled who can participate in building their war torn country together with other Afghans. Basic education and provision of vocational training and required tools may change their life style.
It is true that disables in Afghanistan are the most unfortunate human beings in nowadays civilized and modern civilization on the planet.
Those who raised their voices were just representatives of other disabled people from surrounding provinces to the national capital of the country. They are lucky who has the ability to raise their voices. Life style of disabled people is different from one city to another. If someone goes to Uruzgan, Paktia, Bamyan, Kandahar or Mazar provinces, they will find out the truth and will judge how unfortunate the disabled people are. Different aspect including political situation discouraged them to defeat their legal and basic humanitarian rights and raise their voices. They live in a silent world of their own.
If the Afghan Government appoints a well-experienced person, a person who believes in humanity and pain will definitely affect the life of Afghan disabled.
