International Disability Day, 2007
“I want to be free in my own city” – International Day of Disabled Persons
By Anna Avetisyan, Mission East Medical Technical Officer/Social Work Advisor
The Cultural House in Armavir, Armenia, was filled with joy and happy faces on the 3rd of December. Disabled children linked to the Mission East project “A Healthy Start” had been invited to the theatre on the International Day of Disabled Persons. For many of them this was their first time at the theatre – even though it was only a puppet show.
Not too far away from there, at the city hall in the capital Yerevan, disabled children of all ages were exhibiting art with the title “I want to be free in my city”.
Worldwide the International Day of Disabled Persons is used to promote understanding of the needs and the rights of the disabled. In Armenia, the day’s activities, organised by Mission East and local partners, were mentioned on TV, along with an interview with Mission East’s Managing Director Kim Hartzner.
Since August 2006, Kim Hartzner has lived in Armenia and has for the last one-and-a-half year witnessed a society that doesn’t know how to meet the needs and rights of the disabled. Too many parents are still keeping their children hidden at home because society rejects them. At the same time, there are too many disabled children who never receive proper diagnosis or treatment for their condition, partly because of insufficient health care facilities and inadequate training for doctors.
See more pictures from the International Day of Disabled Persons in Armenia here
Read MoreBy Anna Avetisyan, Mission East Medical Technical Officer/Social Work Advisor
The Cultural House in Armavir, Armenia, was filled with joy and happy faces on the 3rd of December. Disabled children linked to the Mission East project “A Healthy Start” had been invited to the theatre on the International Day of Disabled Persons. For many of them this was their first time at the theatre – even though it was only a puppet show.
Not too far away from there, at the city hall in the capital Yerevan, disabled children of all ages were exhibiting art with the title “I want to be free in my city”.
Worldwide the International Day of Disabled Persons is used to promote understanding of the needs and the rights of the disabled. In Armenia, the day’s activities, organised by Mission East and local partners, were mentioned on TV, along with an interview with Mission East’s Managing Director Kim Hartzner.
Since August 2006, Kim Hartzner has lived in Armenia and has for the last one-and-a-half year witnessed a society that doesn’t know how to meet the needs and rights of the disabled. Too many parents are still keeping their children hidden at home because society rejects them. At the same time, there are too many disabled children who never receive proper diagnosis or treatment for their condition, partly because of insufficient health care facilities and inadequate training for doctors.
See more pictures from the International Day of Disabled Persons in Armenia here
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