Faith - Walking without two legs

This is 'Faith'                                                           
                                                                         
This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 3    
legs - 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which needed           
to be amputated.   He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his  
mother did not want him.                                                   
                                                                         

                                                                         
His first owner also did not think that he could survive. Therefore, he    
was thinking of 'putting him to sleep'.                                
By this time, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to 
take care of him.                                                          
She was determined to teach and train this dog to walk by himself.         
Therefore she named him 'Faith'.                                           

                                                                         
                                                                         
In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfing board to let him feel the     
movements.                                                                 
                                                                         
Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him to    
stand up and jump around.                                                  
                                                                         
Even the other dog at home also helped to encourage him to walk.           
Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance   
on his 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward.                             
                                                                         
After further training in the snow, he now can walk like a human being.    

                                                                         
                                                                         
Faith loves to walk around now. No matter where he goes, he just attracts  
all the people around him.                                                 
He is now becoming famous on the international scene. He has appeared on   
various newspapers and TV shows.                                           
There is even one book entitled 'With a little faith' being published      
about him. He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter        
movies.                                                                
                                                                         

                                                                         
                                                                         
His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and    
plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect  
body, one can have a perfect soul'.                                                                                                                   
                                                                         

                                                                         


   
                                                                         
                                                                         
In life there are always undesirable things. Perhaps one will feel better  
if one changes the point of view from another direction.                   
I hope this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone and  
that everyone can appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day that  
follows.                                                                   
Faith is the continual demonstration of the Strength of Life.

INDIA: No Place to be People with Disabilities In

"There are very few options in wheelchair production, especially for children, with no regular supply of whatever is available," K.N. Gopinath, assistant director of the Bangalore-based Association of People with Disabilities (APD), a national organisation working to empower the physically challenged told IPS. 

Technology in locomotion and mobility for the disabled has progressed worldwide, but India continues to use antiquated tricycles and wheelchairs as mobility devices. 

"Basic understanding of mobility is lacking in India today," APD director V.S. Basavaraju told IPS. 

Thirty-two-year-old Usman, who works for a company manufacturing aids and appliances for the disabled in Bangalore, says he has never boarded a bus or train. "Even though people are willing to help you, it is still nearly impossible to use public transport here." 

Nineteen-year-old Hanumantha says he has an arrangement with a colleague to drop him home every evening. In return Hanumantha buys him a ticket to the movies once a fortnight. "My father brings me to office everyday, carries me and sits me down," he says. 

Only about 15 percent of the loco motor disabled in India are able to use public transport, as compared to over 65 percent of disabled populations in developed countries. The rest struggle to commute daily - or are immobilised. 

India's social support network of family and friends is much stronger than in developed nations, but there is little barrier-free access to public facilities. 

Usman is one of the luckier ones. His inputs on what suits the disabled most were used by his employers, the Bangalore-based Indian company Flexitron, to design a low-cost, motorised, rechargeable bike for the disabled, priced Rs. 18,000 (356 dollars). Similar bikes cost around 3,000 dollars in western markets. 

Most of Flexitron's labour are disabled or challenged individuals who test their own products for usability and durability, thereby serving both their own livelihood interests and those of the company. 

But private companies like Flexitron lack access to government channels which use the public sector Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Company (ALIMCO) to source disability appliances. 

Not surprisingly, Flexitron now has a major market outside India, selling low- cost, low-wattage consumption technologies, including 53 disability- assistance devices, to 16 countries. 

Flexitron director R.S. Hiremath acknowledges that India has a poor record in research and development, but says there are several low-cost options that could be made in India for everyday needs, such as cutlery that can be grasped by those without fingers, or mats that allow a person to transport himself from wheelchair to bed, or bathroom devices. 

"These would be simple devices, so very useful for the disabled, at half the price compared to western countries," he says. 

But progress is patchy. "There is no actual discussion across all sectors of related users and manufacturers," Gopinath told a gathering at the APD golden jubilee celebrations in Bangalore last month. He said that the 1995 law, the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act is dependent on funding without designating a specified source for it. 

India's Deputy Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, T.D. Dhariyal, says each state in India has its own priorities to arrange funding. 

India is a signatory to the UN Declaration on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asia-Pacific Region and to the Biwako Millennium framework for action towards an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society. The Biwako framework of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) was agreed in Japan in 2002. 

Barrier-free systems use appliances and designs such as stair lifts at metro stations, wheelchair-friendly ramps, Braille signboards, and accessible ticketing counters. 

The only places in Asia with near-total barrier-free public environments by UNESCAP standards are Hong Kong and Japan. 

Dhariyal says India's Disabilities Act of 1995 provides a strong fillip to ensuring the rights of the disabled. 

"I am currently fighting a case in court of a visually impaired government officer who has been denied the position of District Collector (a senior administrative rank) because of his disability," says Dhariyal. The Act now makes it possible to take up such cases, he said. 

India's Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, responsible for the disabled, has six schemes for rehabilitation, livelihood, education and assisted device grants, more than what most other nations have. 

The amount of assistance on offer is, however, inadequate. "How much can Rs. 6,000 (118 dollars), given as grant for aids and appliances by the government really help?" says Hiremath. 

But many are not able to access even this fund. 

"My experience is that most of the current funding available (for disability- related aid) remains unused," Dhariyal told IPS. 

"We (APD) are now saying that what we have today in India is not enough, that we need value addition to mobility issues," says APD director V.S. Basavaraju. 

Dhariyal agrees that quality could be improved. "If aids of better quality are the issue, then somebody should approach the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (looking after disability-related governance) and put it to them," he says, sending the ball back to the court of organisations like APD.

Data, information and research for people with disabilities

Research – there is presently no co-ordination or integration between research on disability and research on gender, social development and so on. Disability–related research tends to focus predominantly on the health and/or social welfare aspect of disability.
Research needs to overcome the person–centred approach where, to understand performance problems, equal attention is given to person, physical environment and machine environment. Attention must be given to the conceptualisation and measurement of disability so that research can incorporate insights on the interplay between people, resources and environment.
It needs to be acknowledged that the research process is as important as the outcome (results) of the research, and the specific attention needs to be given to both qualitative and participatory components in research methods to ensure that the different dimension of disability are appreciated.

Information – the ultimate responsibility for the dissemination of information on the living conditions of people with disabilities lies with the Government. 
It is the Government’s responsibility to disseminate information on disability throughout both political and administrative levels of the national and all spheres. 
People with disabilities should have access to full information of personal health, education and social aspects affecting their lives.
All strategies and mechanisms developed to make information accessible to citizens should be available in a format accessible to people with disabilities.

Within Policy objectives the following should be incorporated:

• There must be regular, appropriate data collection on the living conditions of people with disabilities.
•  Research should reflect the gaps between people’s physical or mental conditions and their resources/capacity (personal, economic, social), and the environment (geographic, architectural, social, political) in which they live, work and play.
• Disabled people should have full access to all information that affects their lives.

Strategies necessary for proper data collection and research include:

• Data collection in conjunction with national censuses and household surveys, undertaken in close collaboration with, amongst others, universities, research institutes and l Disabled People’s Organisaitons (DPOs).
• The facilitation of better co-ordination of disability-focused research.
• The facilitation of access to disability-focused research by the general research sector.
• The integration of disability-focused and general research through the establishment of a forum where researchers and the disability sector can exchange information related to disability and research.
• The development of a national database on existing research aimed at identifying gaps.
• The development of national guidelines and minimum norms and standards for disability related research.
• The development of national guidelines for the integration of disability into general research.
• The facilitation of the publication of market relevant and significant research findings.
• Networking with regional and international research and international research institutions.

In the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities article 31 also emphasizes on the importance of collecting appropriate information, including statistical and research data of people with disabilities, to enable our governments to formulate and implement policies to give effect to the present Convention and moreover to identify and address the barriers faced by persons with disabilities in exercising their rights.