Results
Creating an inclusive and equitable society for people living with disabilities
According to the 2014 Cambodia Demographic Health Survey, 9.5% of the Cambodian population experiences at least some degree of difficulty in performing basic functions while 2.1% experience major difficulties and cannot perform basic functions.
This figure is consistent with the World Health Organization’s World Report on Disability (15% of the world’s population are living with some form of disability with prevalence rates predicted to increase due to aging populations and increases in non-communicable disease).
Persons with disabilities face multiple challenges such as inequality and discrimination in access to education, healthcare services, social and economic social justice, political participation as well as being particularly vulnerable to violence and other violations. With a predominantly Buddhist population, it is often thought that disability is seen as a result of a sin in a past life. There are, however, other cultural norms that impact on people’s perception of disability.
Cambodian women with disabilities experience multiple disadvantages resulting from the interplay between gender, disability and poverty. They experience almost five times higher rates of emotional, physical and sexual violence by household members (other than partners). They are considered less valuable and more burdensome within the household and 2.5 times more likely to require permission from a partner to seek healthcare...
Disabling karma: Reflections on Buddhism, disability and charitable drive-bys
Waiting outside the UNICEF office in Phnom Penh for my tuk tuk, an older woman sidles up to me and pushes 1,000 riel (around 25 cents) into my hand. This is what I have begun to colloquially call a charity drive-by. The first few times I chased after the predominantly elderly women to say, “thank you but please take the money back.” But, after it happened several times and experiencing the Cambodian elderly as absurdly quick, I accepted their charity with discomfort.
I will be honest, this is not the first time I’ve received money on the street. In the dark days of finishing my thesis at university, when I was unintentionally trying out dreadlocks and wore a uniform of oversized t-shirts and sweatpants, a man shoved money into my much-needed espresso outside of a Starbucks as I waited for a friend. Yet, within the Cambodian context, I expected my foreignness to exempt me from being seen as requiring charity.
The element however that seemingly erases my foreignness, my race, and all assumptions of economic affluence, is that I use a wheelchair.
For the next few months, I will try to dodge the charity drive-bys, but if they catch me unaware, I will accept it with the graciousness it comes from.
Cambodia is unique in this respect. Working in Nepal I had a gang of children follow me, or more accurately ride on me, to work and ask for money periodically. In Afghanistan, I was consistently asked for money from impoverished widowed women. Morocco, Algeria, Peru, Bolivia, Jordan, Lebanon, Tibet, and New Jersey were all similar.
My daily experiences with well-meaning elderly women reflects to a greater degree my observations surrounding the interaction between disability and Buddhism in Cambodia. The Buddhist notion of karma has a profound effect upon how Cambodians perceive disability. In Theravada Buddhism, having a disability, like being a woman, places you at a lower level of enlightenment, a result of karma from a past life. For persons with disabilities this translates to being objects of pity and charity, and for some Cambodians with disabilities it translates to an acceptance that we should suffer to build better karma for the next lifetime…
Epic Arts – Global Giving
In Cambodia children with disabilities are seen as unable to learn. There is little information about disabilities in Cambodia so this is a very common perception. Children with disabilities are often left at home unable to access education and in the worst cases even tied up so they won't run away. We believe that every child deserves the right to an education and we make this happen through two courses on our Inclusive Education Programme (IEP).
Our courses inspire students to learn & be active members of society through arts based education. Our Special Education Project has 80 students with learning disabilities who learn independent skills like cooking, handicrafts & gardening as well as arts & literacy. Our second Project, Inclusive Arts Course, currently has 12 students. The course is for teenagers has more of a focus on the creative subjects. Dance, drama, film-making and visual arts as well as English make up the timetable.
The long-term impact is inspiring students to feel that they are valued members of society. Young adults with learning disabilities, who have faced years of stigma and discrimination from their own families & communities come to learn with us. They're given the chance to learn skills that enable them to contribute to their communities. Teenagers who've suffered through accidents & become disabled are able to renew their confidence and self-worth. There is a place for all children to come to learn with us.
> $55M 
$55M - $25M
$25M - $5M
< $5M
