AADI organises cultural programs on World Disability Day

Identity is created when one counts on ability than disability. On December 4th, with the vision of making people with a disability an integral part of society, participating in the community and living life to the fullest, Action for Ability Development and Inclusion(AADI) organised an event that included cultural programs, food stalls and awareness camps in the small town of Sunder Nagari, North-east Delhi with the support of NGOs like Ankur, Action India, Pratham, SEWA and a team from St. Stephens. This event was organised to celebrate World Disability Day, which was observed on December 3rd.

Apna Utsav 2018, an initiative by AADI, aims at making people realise that disabled does not mean incompetent and it also promotes equitable access to opportunities and services for the differently-abled. The idea for the Utsav began with the Sundari Nagari Project survey which identified 1039 people with disability among the population covered for the survey in the 10 blocks, that is, 34,000. Through the various programs conducted during the event like music, dance and Ankur Natak which were all performed by the differently-abled, it paints an image of ability within this group of people.

AADI was known as the Spastics Society of Northern India (SSNI) when it was first set up in 1978, founded to provide services for children with neuromuscular disorders like cerebral palsy. However, with time, they wanted to reduce the usage of “spastic” because they realized the need to move away from being a special school. Thus the acronym ‘AADI’ came into being in 2002 which means ‘The Beginning’ in Sanskrit. “We did not want to define disability and in order to focus on ability, we had to change our vision,” Meenakshi Sharma, the Manager of AADI, said.

Having had 250-300 people participate in the event, it was the first time the community of Suder Nagari bared witness to such an event. People were taken aback and barely could contain the various feats done by the disabled. “It was an eye-opener for many. These abilities that the disabled showcased came out to be new even for the parents of the performers,” Meenakshi asserted.

By implementing CRPD in their daily work, AADI advances in their mission guided by the core human values of respect, dignity and the autonomy of persons with disability. “It (Apna Utsav) doesn’t stop here. There are going to be many more such events organized in the future,” Sheetal Batra, the Co-ordinator, said.