Self-advocacy meeting concluded
Lamjung, being a geographically backward hilly district, is so challenging for ordinary people to live, how much more challenging must the life of people with intellectual disabilities be? You can guess for yourself. Despite these challenging stories, parents of people with intellectual disabilities in this Lamjung district have formed a Parents Self-Help Group with the support of the Federation of Parents of Intellectual Disabilities and have been working. In this regard, on Chaitra 11, the second meeting of the Parents Self-Help Group was held in Dharapani, Lamjung district, under the coordination of Mr. Bed Bahadur Thapa, in the presence of all members.
The meeting was particularly focused on the experiences and problems faced by parents of people with intellectual disabilities and how to solve these problems in the long term at the local level. Since most of the parents here are involved in agriculture, it is very difficult to make ends meet without working all day. Parents of children with intellectual disabilities are going through an even more difficult situation. Should they work all day? Should they stay and look after their children? There is no intellectual school or day care center here. Since the parents have to stay at home all day, it is very difficult to take care of some people with intellectual disabilities as they develop physically. Parents even keep them in cages. However, to this day, neither the attention of any concerned bodies nor the government has been drawn here. Parents are taking the initiative and working for their children themselves.
Keeping this in mind, while the group is searching for land for the establishment of a day care center, the Vice President of Annapurna Intellectual Disability Parents Association-Lamjung, Mr. Subhadra Adhikari, has assured to provide 6 aanas of land as a donation. The beginning of this good work will definitely help in the care and protection of people with intellectual disabilities in Lamjung district in the coming days. In coordination with the government and various stakeholders, the parents of people with intellectual disabilities will come together and carry out advocacy and discussion programs in the coming days. The meeting was concluded by deciding to hold the group's meeting on the second Saturday of every month.
