Skip to main content

LET ME MEET YOU THERE....

When looking at the photos that I uploaded in the previous post, WHAT'S YOUR TAKE? You might have noticed how there are some modifications that are rarely thought about when putting up buildings as well as other structures.
When you wake up in the morning, we more often than not just worry about getting to work or school in time. rarely do you think about how the road is, which route on the road has friendly touts and drivers and vans instead of buses, right?
When you're thinking and planning ahead on how your day will be at work, rarely do you think of how low or how high the seats are at the nearest eatery to your work place, rarely do you think of how slippery the floor is at that fast-foods joint.
When a friend invites you to their place to maybe just hangout, how often do you ask them on what floor their house is on or how the stairs leading to their house are?
When you think of changing jobs or even starting up on your career, how often do you want to visit the place, no to see where it is, but to know whether the infrastructure will be friendly to you, stairs, presence of a ramp or even ground where you will be walking? I guess the answer is rarely.
Now let me give you an insight into the day/life of a person who might be limited by the environment in terms of where they can go.
1. When I wake up in the morning, the calculations must fit in perfectly for me to have a stress-free day. By this I mean that the routes I will use that day must have vans( matatu) as the main means of transport as this will ensure that the day will go by without having asked for unnecessary help from strangers. If the place am gong to has only buses, then I have to ensure that it is not rush hour as then I will not get harsh stares from people as i take a little more time to get into the bus( with help of course!!)
2. On a normal day, when a person looks for a favorite food joint, they just base their opinion on the quality of food served. But if my favorite eatery has very low seats and extremely slippery floors, then I will forgo it for another place with higher seats and a floor that will have me stressing less about the chance of slipping on the floor as I make my way to the seat or to the door.
3.We all love hanging out with our friends don't we? Sure!! But think about this, you have this friend who always chooses a place that is on the first floor or a hotel or pub with very steep flight of stairs that does not even have railing for support on the sides.Who wants to go to a place where they will be anxious the whole time leaving little room for one to enjoy themselves?? I know anyone with a physically limiting condition doesn't.
 I may really love your company but if you live on the fourth floor of a building that is poorly light with unrealistically steep stairs then I might keep postponing that visit for a really long time.
4. Dear prospective employer, we may have all the necessary qualifications for that job you are advertising but the first visit we make to your offices might make us apply for posts in other companies.
IF ALL THE NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS WERE TO BE MADE THEN I WOULD COME TO
- that eatery near my work place
- that hotel you want us to have lunch at
- that new house you moved into
that job with the great offer that is perfect for me
LET ME MEET YOU THERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tell the African Story

Monday Blues That Monday had been the most difficult day I had had and I have had so far, I had been stuck all day trying to sort out a personal issue and I was dealing with the most difficult and demeaning people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in my life, my phone’s battery was drained so I had switched off the data option around midday. When I got home, by habit I plugged in the phone, waited for it to come on and turned on the data as I went to get rid of the layer of dirt and sweat. I was so tired and not really in the mood to eat, but I knew for a fact I wouldn’t survive the night seeing that a single banana is all I had eaten for lunch. Missed calls, text messages, Twitter notifications, new emails, updated applications, WhatsApp messages, my notification panel was overflowing! For some reason that day, emails got priority and there it was “Congratulations! You were chosen in the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders” To say I got confused is a

Disability acceptance and inclusion lessons from my Cûcû

In loving memory, ûromama kwega kuuraga  It is going to be 3years this 20th of August since you left us and I’m only just now being able to put this down. To write you into the world. To go back to writing on here. We shared so many unspoken truths that made me feel so so safe around you I have vague memories of carrying one litre water containers when my 6year old agemates were carrying ten litre and five litre ones  The small bundles of napier grass, handfuls probably when they carried bundles that weighed them down You made sure I had a bundle to carry or a container of water  You made it feel okay for me to come early in the morning to get my mandatory 5litres of water for washing the classrooms instead of having to carry them the estimated 5kilometres walk to school at 7/8years I’m the age before mobile phones, I would be tired at the end of my school day and walk to your home less than 10minutes away instead of the slightly more than 30minutes brisk wal
Social media alone cannot be enough to create awareness, hence we need mainstream media. General advocacy alone may not make the challenges of living with a progressive muscle degenerative condition well understood so once in a while we resort to self advocacy ( putting yourself on a pedestal) so that the lives and experiences of other people can be easier than yours. Questions are welcome :-)