By Noora Kauppila
Disabled people, rightly or wrongly, are often considered to be reliant on aid because of their neurological difficulties – but this perception can easily lead to disregard for their actual skills, experience and knowledge, says Markus Vähälä.
Markus works in Lyhty, a centre caring for the disabled in a creative learning environment.
Music rehearsal / Photo credit: Pekka Elomaa
As with many of the European Voluntary Service projects nominated for prizes in the ’Inclusive Society’ category at a European Youth Week awards ceremony in Antwerp, volunteers at Lyhty often participate in the projects by doing various activities with the disabled.
Their main concern is that disabled young people are generally seen as passive and are not given enough opportunity to challenge themselves.
Markus tells a different story: in the Lyhty community, there are actually a lot of disabled participants who are politically active and belong to different kinds of NGOs.
The empowerment which comes through inspiring a sense of competence and confidence has created new innovative possibilities to work in different ways. This way of working and the knowledge gained are things which could be used in other NGOs as well and not only in the disabled field.
‘FREAK CIRCUS’: MAKING A POINT
Lyhty’s ‘Freak Circus’ project was also nominated in Antwerp. Its content and ways of working differ greatly from the norm.
Croatian volunteer Zrinko Vranješ became part of the group because there was a real need for a guitarist and was quickly considered as equal among all the participants.
Zrinko at the awards ceremony in Antwerp / Photo credit: Noora Kauppila
His role as a volunteer did not differentiate him from others and he got to know the group especially well over time, rehearsing a full-scale concert together.
The task was a challenging for everyone involved, and the feeling of being able to do it together themselves gave everybody the chance to concentrate on practical work and not the identities of the ‘do-ers’.
It was also very refreshing and rewarding to see how the disabled were presented in the project. They were already speaking up to invent the title of the show and criticised how the disabled are so often presented just as ‘cute’ and ‘happy’.
Zrinko tells how the songs for the Freak Circus were chosen from different varieties ranging from sexy and playful disco tunes to traditional Finnish songs.
“The costumes were also freaky,” he says smiling.
The success of the project and the attention it has received clearly – a nomination for a European prize, no less – shows the need for a different approach in the field of working with the disabled.
MORE PARTICIPATION IN VOLUNTARY WORK
“I would like to point out how important it is in the field of voluntary work to bring out disabled peoples’ skills and the importance of their experience,” says Markus.
“They should also function as active learners, experts and coaches in voluntary projects.”
Disabled people should be seen as sources of strength and resources, rather than limitations in voluntary projects – although, of course, there is also need of expert aid, and this should be included in project budgets.
Different practices and approaches can create innovations and definitely a very different perception of the world, such as those presented in the ‘Freak Circus’: the disabled certainly need more room to ‘speak up and join in!’
11 May 2016
