| – Cecil MorrisCecil Morris“It might be a harsh judgement to say that Guyana has not made progress when it comes to disabled persons. There has been progress but we have not made the progress that we had anticipated about 10 years ago,” were the words of President of the Guyana Society for the Blind,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Cecil Morris.According to Morris, if he had to weigh the progress in Guyana when it comes to respecting the rights of disabled persons, he would rate it at four on a scale of one to 10.He attributed this state of affairs to the attitude of persons who have to be continuously reminded that disabled persons have rights similar to any other human being. According to Morris, who has been visually impaired for the past 41 years, efforts are constantly being made to revisit the attitudes of persons.“Most of the things that we have done in advocating for persons that are blind are the same things that we have been doing for the last 20 years…We still have to continue doing it too,Cheap Jerseys From China,” Morris opined.He noted that his main concern lies in the fact that many persons are often mistreated after they become inflicted with a disability such as blindness.“People want to regard you as something less than a human being…They feel because you have gone blind everything is gone. Now nothing is wrong with a blind person. Nothing is wrong with me. The only thing is that I can’t see and that limits my mobility but basically I can still function as a human being and I dare to say even better than some seeing people,” Morris added.According to him,Wholesale Jerseys China, there is so much yet to be done in terms of making certain things available to disabled persons.As a blind person,NFL Jerseys Supply, Morris said that he is frustrated on many occasions when persons in society try to limit his capabilities.“There is some amount of difficulties with banks in terms of them telling you that you can’t use an ATM card because somebody might steal it from you. They would find all kinds of reasons why you can’t use a card. I know there are lots and lots of sighted people and people take away their cards so why am I different?”Morris explained that the situation is even extended to the withdrawal of monies from accounts,Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic, adding that although he can deposit money into an account he cannot withdraw money from his own account even though he offers his identification card.“When you open an account it is okay but when you wish to withdraw they give the royal run around. They say you have to go to a JP and the JP has to say that you are who you say you are even though you have your identification card.”And then there is the situation of employment,wholesale jerseys china, Morris said,Cristian Ansaldi Jersey, whereby blind persons are employed but have no scope of mobility because of their disability.“They are stagnant; there is no promotion because you are blind. The company does not make any provisions for you to be elevated. It wouldn’t take much for that to happen; they just need to put some simple things in place which would not only benefit the blind person but other persons in the long run.”According to Morris, such situations only serve to depict how little progress Guyana has made with regards to the disabled situation, adding that other countries even in the Caribbean have long recognised the importance of treating disabled persons with respect.National Week for Persons with Disabilities is being observed this week and is intended to highlight the notion that dignity and justice should be for everyone.The event kicked off Sunday last with a march and will conclude tomorrow with a grand rally at the National Gymnasium featuring the talents of several disabled persons. |
