By Israel Kisakye
In a move to boost the awareness of special-needs children at Uganda Christian University (UCU), the School of Social Sciences has collaborated with Promise International, an organization in the United States (USA), to hold training. The training was aimed at advocating for the basic human rights of people living with disabilities in the community and the country at large.
The training reminded the UCU community of the importance of people with disabilities in the community.It was re-echoed that everyone is created in God’s image. As a result, everyone has a right to exist in this world.Dr. Jeremy Waiswa, head of the department for research and postgraduate in the school of social sciences, has said that every journey starts with one step.
“This is the first step towards bigger things and collaborations in this area. We are glad to partner with promise internationally on this noble cause,” Waiswa said.
Sarah Benevides, one of the facilitators from Promise International, is excited about this collaboration. It will help to advocate for the rights of people living with disabilities and how it can strengthen courage in the UCU community.
“I am also excited about being a part and also pleased with the love from the school and the students. This is an amazing and beautiful campus,” Benevides added
Daniel Tulibagenyi, a UCU alumnus and also working with Promise International, is glad to be coming back home to share encouraging words with the university.
“It feels so good to establish this relationship with my home university,” said Tulibagenyi.
Social Science students have expressed their gratitude for engaging in such training. They have acquired knowledge about children living with disabilities. They were sensitized to the rights of people with disabilities.
Calvin Amanya, the guild member of parliament representing Social Science, has expressed his dismay at how the disabled are sidelined. He says that they are not considered relevant in society. However, this training has been an eye-opener for the students.
“We have learnt that the disabled have been left out in most aspects of life and their rights are not magnified,” Amanya said.
He also added that, as students, they are grateful to the school of social sciences for bringing up such collaborations to them.