Presbyterian Community Based Rehabilitation acts as a strong advocate for the social inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of life through it’s outreach activities. In support of these activities one of our interns, Sean McDonough, took part in the Power in You program aired on Builsa Community Radio on the night of June 24th. The conversation focused strongly on the integration of people with mental disabilities into classroom activities as a way to support their human rights and create stronger community bonds. Through our work with education programs we have discovered that many people with disabilities are often well cared for by their classmates and teachers, yet are usually left to their own activities because they are not able to keep pace with classroom learning. This leads to a feeling of separation between students with disabilities and their peers, contributing to the propagation of negative stigma as well as poverty. Our partnership with Fistrad and Builsa Community Radio provided PCBR an opportunity to have a conversation with the community about social inclusion, education, and economic development in relation to people with disabilities.
The show began with a conversation between the hosts of the program and our PCBR representative. The discussion focused on classroom relationships, student inclusion and engagement, and community responsibility towards vulnerable peoples. The phone lines were then opened to callers, and many members of the community called into the radio stations with questions and comments about the topic. All were very excited at the amount of feedback received, with many of it being positive, and many callers showing an understanding of the problem and offering helpful suggestions. With the help of our radio host and translator, Maxwell, we were able to transmit in both Buli and English, making the conversation truly open and participative.
PCBR would like to thank it’s partners Fistrad and Builsa Community Radio for allowing us to take part in the Power in You program.
