Rema Carmona: Uplift the disabled

Such persons must be given genuine help to be the best that they can be, she implored.

Inclusivity must replace ignorance, insensitivity and indifference, she said.

Carmona said the differently-abled need a higher media profile to proffer new ideas and a clarity of vision. “The differently abled, whether he/she is blind, deaf, autistic or with cerebral palsy, is somebody who has an opinion and has a view and must not become victims of special days celebrating disability,” Carmona said. “It is insensitive to have differently abled persons assume a persona of facelessness outside of these designated international days.” The media must more often get the views of the differently abled on all issues. “No one seeks their opinions on politics, health, economics, climate change, human and drug trafficking and social dysfunction. I noticed that the differently abled was not even given a chance or opportunity to express an opinion on Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump, the President-elect during the US Presidential debates.” While the differently- abled person has skills and expertise to help our society to develop, their constant cry is that they are not given a chance. Carmona said, “We want opportunity, not charity, the opportunity of jobs, yes real jobs that do not patronize one’s competence, qualifications and capacity, one that will facilitate the differently abled person becoming the CEO of any company or the member or Chairman of a Board in the public and private sector.” She called for more zebra crossings plus bells at traffic lights, to empower their mobility and independence.

“The differently abled has a right to aspire and to work in an environment that can create careers and occupational and job mobility. It is all about being given genuine opportunities, not pity, sympathy or charity.” Saying non communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes greatly harm disabled persons who often lack physical mobility, she urged fitness coaches/fanatics to reach out to help this community achieve healthier lifestyles. Carmona implored corporate TT to screen employees every six moths for diabetes and glaucoma, relating the impact of glaucoma on her father in law, Dennis Carmona, father of President Anthony Carmona.

“I have personally seen and experienced the impact of blindness on a person’s sense of independence and autonomy,” she related.

“My 90 year old fatherin- law is visually impaired having suffered blindness for the last 30 years as a result of glaucoma.

I have felt and sensed my husband, His Excellency’s, sense of helplessness and exasperation that his father, Dennis Carmona, a voracious reader, can read no more.”