Roberta Blomster and Mary
Kay Kennedy of St. Paul-based Advocating Change Together (ACT) joined
250 leaders from around the world in Doha, Qatar to attend the Third
Annual International Forum on Disability. The forum was sponsored
by the Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs. “We
met people from India, Africa, Lebanon, Russia, and more,” says
Blomster.
“The Qatari people I met are very proud of their newly established
Center for Children with Special Needs. It’s a school for kids
with disabilities and the first of its kind in the region,” says
Kennedy. “The model for the school was medical all the way:
the teachers even wore lab coats.”
Kennedy reflects that
while the segregated, medical-model services are not in line with
what most disability rights actives would want, the Center still
represents a positive change. The director of the Center, Dr. Saif
al-Hajri is quoted as saying, “People
in Qatar are finally starting to behave right, the family attitude
is changing. Now they take the handicapped child to public malls
and parks. This was not happening six or seven years ago.”
Shafallah International
Forums (this being the third) are helping Doha put itself of the
disability map. “They definitely have
a strong interest in being leaders in disability and in playing a central
role in bringing people together to address global issues,” says
Kennedy. The focus of the conference changes from year to year; each
annual gathering focuses on one aspect of the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This year’s focus
was on Article 30 which talks about participation in sports, culture
and recreational activities for all.
ACT members were invited
to participate in the forum by a Shafalla representative that they
met at the United Nations last December. “One
thing leads to the next,” says Kennedy. “This experience
in Doha has opened ACT up to even more opportunities to be part of
a global network of human rights workers. I guess it really is a small
world after all.”![end of story]()
