Tag Archives: Disability

How services, not “innovation,” can change lives

Posted in: Aid Effectiveness, Disability | March 28, 2013 at 9:00 am , by Weh Yeoh

What happens when "innovation" is valued to the detriment of basic services? Weh Yeoh demonstrates how an emphasis on innovation and advocacy have sidelined basic rehabilitation services in improving the lives of those with disabilities, and argues that we need to pay more attention to what works, and less to...

Why development workers should read children’s books

Posted in: Community Development, Disability, Reflection | September 27, 2012 at 6:00 am , by Weh Yeoh

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Working in development is often about the transfer of knowledge from one to another. But what if the process of unlearning - relinquishing knowledge that you have gained - could help you along the way? Through reading children's books, Weh Yeoh argues that development workers can realise the power of...

Why including people with disabilities is common sense.

Posted in: Disability, Human Rights, Poverty | September 6, 2012 at 7:00 am , by Weh Yeoh

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Oscar Pistorius takes the baton (Matt Slocum/Associated Press)

There is a pervasive misconception that the number of people with disabilities in any given community is small. Yet, 15% of the world’s population live with disabilities, and the number is higher in lower income countries. Weh Yeoh explores how to best address the inequality among people who are largely...

How would you make aid and development better?

Posted in: Alternatives in development, Disability, Microfinance, Poverty | August 1, 2012 at 8:00 am , by Weh Yeoh

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In this post, Weh Yeoh responds to a call out from AidSpeak, the blog of the Humanitarian Social Network known as AidSource. The guys recently asked writers to talk about how they would improve aid and development. This is by no means an exhaustive list (that would involve a word...

When talking about human rights is irrelevant

Posted in: China & Development, Human Rights, Reflection | May 31, 2012 at 8:21 am , by Weh Yeoh

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What is learned in a classroom is often miles away from what happens or works in practice. We all know this. How it actually differs though, is something that is difficult to predict. Weh Yeoh reflects on his experiences in China, giving a personal account of his struggles to frame...

A story from Uganda: being young, female and having a disability

Posted in: Disability, Interview, Youth | April 16, 2012 at 4:58 pm , by Weh Yeoh

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Even though whydev brings a younger voice to issues and discussion around aid and development, it is rare that we have a chance to hear from a young person from Uganda. Weh recently had the pleasure of interviewing Josephine Narimiru, a representative of Leonard Cheshire Disability's Young Voices program. In...

Education still a long way off for children with disabilities in poverty

Posted in: Disability, Education | February 22, 2012 at 8:00 am , by Lucy Daniel

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The cycle of poverty and disability can be broken, argues Lucy Daniel of CBM Australia. But, although the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and AusAID include girls and children with disabilities in education programs they fund in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines, what is happening on the ground...

Why International Day of People with Disabilities deserves a star in everyone’s calendar

Posted in: Disability | November 30, 2011 at 11:59 pm , by Lucy Daniel

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International Day of People with Disabilities, on the 3rd of December every year, rounds out a year of International Days (IDs) for many different causes. Given that so many of these causes are worthwhile, what makes this day so deserving of a star in your calendar? In her first post...

Disability in China and Australia: hardly worlds apart.

Posted in: China & Development, Disability | September 9, 2011 at 11:25 am , by Weh Yeoh

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As a former worker in a disability NGO in Australia, who then moved to rural Southern China to take up a post with Handicap International, Weh reflects on the differences in working in both fields, and wonders whether they are not as far apart as initially perceived....

Let’s get retarde…it started: discussions around disability and language

Posted in: Disability | July 18, 2011 at 4:00 pm , by Guest Author/s

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Have you used ever the words ‘retarded’, ‘special needs’, ‘special’, or ‘slow learner’ to mean stupid or weird? The words’ wrongness makes them kind of fun to say – you feel ironic and a bit subversive. But, would you be less comfortable using these words in a context where they...