25.09.08 - Scintillating, dynamic,
spine-tingling and just plain fantastic are some of the
adjectives which best describe Chad "Sir Ruel" Holder's
crowd-pleasing performance in the 2008 Junior Calypso
Monarch competition.
Despite having been identified as having a learning
disability, Sir Ruel swept all competitors aside and
reigns supreme as the best in the 13-18 categories of
performers.
What Chad's victory restates is that people with
disabilities are members of the community with the
abilities and hidden talents all Barbadians share. Once
given a chance, we will debunk the myth that we are
inept, incompetent and have no value.
It is to be regretted that there are still some
members of the community that feel the need to
marginalise people based solely on the fact that they are
challenged in some way. There are those who still feel
the need to push the disabled aside and put them in their
own little category.
It is true that some of these people are only trying
to be "kind" and protect us from the hurts of coping in
the real world.
The problem with this way of thinking is that we all
live in the real world, with all its blessings and
curses. This is the world we deal with and nothing we do
will alter that reality.
Some Crop-Over seasons ago, the late Kregg Nurse
proved that challenged or not, he would enjoy Kadooment
Day like any other Bajan. In his wheelchair, Kregg rolled
down to Spring Garden in all his costume splendour.
Blind and visually impaired people have jumped on
Kadooment Day in many different bands, and all of this
proves one thing - that disabled or not. we all want an
opportunity to celebrate together.
When the United States team participated in the Summer
Olympics this year, one of their athletes was a
hearing-impaired wrestler. The 29-year-old - who is of
Guyanese descent - overcame the physically gruelling
challenges to be one of the best and, having now
completed his successful academic career, this young man
will also prove that global trends are moving towards
recognition of the disabled as everyday members of our
society.
Natalie Du Toit, a 24-year-old South African swimmer
with one leg, and her countryman Oscar Pistorius, a
double amputee track athlete, also represented their
country this year in China. For several years, one of our
very own top swimmers - Marsha Watson - has proven that
her deafness is not a barrier to her being outstanding.
In sports and in culture, the disabled are forging
ahead and claiming their rights to be nationallyand
internationally recognised as among the best of the best.
We look forward to the day when people with
disabilities are included in public forums focusing on
issues other than disabilities. We wait for the
opportunity when our women with disabilities are
acknowledged as authorities on beauty, fashion, home
care, healthy living and a host of other issues.
We anticipate a time when our men with disabilities
will be allowed to show that their disability does not
define them, but their world, their society, their
interests do.
Source: www.nationnews.com
