A Voice For the Voiceless
The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.
The Impact of Service
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Santos Okumu
Santos is chairman of the Gulu District Association of the Blind and a board member of the Gulu Disabled Persons Union. Santos became blind when he was older, and as a result his education ends at the senior four level.
Before the war Santos was employed by the local government and used the money he earned for cultivation of his land and the purchase of cattle. The conflict displaced him and his community to internally displaced persons camps. There has been a major disruption in the economic growth of his community. The biggest challenges facing them now are food and shelter.
Santos’ role in the persons with disabilities movement in the region and nation can be traced straight back to the roots of the movement in 1980. Santos explains this was when Idi Amin was overthrown. “During the [following] crisis humanitarian aid came to Uganda to provide food items. We were not able to access this aid. We were unable to line up. We became one voice… We mobilized people and we went to the District Commissioner. They brought the food to this very centre. That is how we got it.”
Santos became an active advocate for PWDs political representation: “We struggled for [PWD representing] MP’s and councilors. I was one of the activists. I was part of the beginning of NUDIPU [National Union of the Disable Persons Uganda]”. Hon. Betty Bigombe, the minister of Northern Uganda, ordered a meeting so that PWDs could communicate their needs to the government. This is when Santos and others organized themselves as the National Union of the Disabled Persons Uganda in 1981.
There is a pervasive negative attitude of the public towards the blind. Health services in Uganda are not disability friendly. As Santos states, “Accessibility is more than a ramp. It is also about information, communication and employment.” Santos divides accessibility into three parts: accessibility to public buildings, accessibility to information and communication, and accessibility to service delivery from government, donors, non-governmental organizations and the community.
Government programs do not take the blind into consideration. Santos suggests several solutions to the issues facing blind persons. First, he recommends sending disabled children to school so that they have an education and skills. Second, he recognizes the need to sensitize employers from both the government and the private sector so that they realize the potential and abilities of people with visual impairments. Most importantly, communities are wary of disabled persons, they need to be sensitized and shown that disabled people are not different.
Santos wishes to increase his knowledge and skills to become an active and more effective disability advocate.