Until 2006 Joel Morais Fernandes could walk. A car accident that same year left him with a severed spinal cord and a future in a wheelchair. Joel now works with East Timor's only Disabled People's Organisation– Ra'Es Hadomi Timor Oan – in Dili and is trying to increase understanding about disability in communities and the workplace.
'In the 2010 Census, we found that very few East Timorese people with a disability go to school,' Joel says. 'Often it's just too far and too difficult to get into buildings and washrooms. It's also hard to go to university or get a job.'
Silvia Antonia da Costa Soares also has a disability. She too works for Ra'Es Hadomi Timor Oan and, like Joel, she is determined to help change attitudes towards disability. 'If the families of children with disability don't support them to go to school, we advocate for them. We want them to believe that people with a disability should go to school.'
Joel and Silvia recently ran workshops in different towns in East Timor to help staff who work for the Government's State Secretariat for Vocational Training and Employment better understand issues relating to disability.
'Joel and Silvia talked to the staff about how disability can occur, the challenges people with disability face in the workplace and how they could be assisted,' says Kathryn Outhred, an Australian Volunteer for International Development funded by AusAID to work with Ra'Es Hadomi Timor Oan.
'One of the problems is that people often can't separate the disability from the person, so they don't appreciate the abilities people have. People with disabilities are therefore rarely able to find work. Sometimes they develop their own small businesses, selling items in markets and on drink carts, but other opportunities are few and far between.
'It's as much an issue about being recognised as a citizen with rights and being able to get out of the house and into the community–to be seen and heard. Unfortunately there remains significant stigma around disability in East Timor. There are traditional negative beliefs about disability that cause shame in some families.'
Australia is committed to promoting dignity and respect for people with a disability, and ensuring that they are not excluded from the benefits of development. As an Australian volunteer, Kathryn works closely with Silvia and the other staff to build up the organisation's collective skills in advocacy, administration and report writing and dealing with the media.
'Change is slow but we are seeing some progress,' says Kathryn. 'Ra'Es Hadomi Timor Oan has recently recruited six new staff to work in the districts of East Timor and they will gradually develop regional Disabled People's Organisations. And on a brighter note, a couple who both have significant physical disabilities and who both use wheelchairs were married last year and have just had their first child. The child was delivered at Dili National Hospital and the local TV station ran a story on the birth in the news. This was fantastic for disability advocacy and awareness in East Timor.'