WANTED: People with Disabilities in Vietnam
By Barbara Kolucki (bakoluck@aol.com) (Barbara Kolucki is the Children's Media Consultant to the UNICEF-Vietnam Office and responsible for developing the national capacity to produce media for/with/about infants and young children.)
How many times have you seen a "WANT AD" (advertisements requesting candidates for jobs or other business opportunities) encouraging people with disabilities to apply? Perhaps never, but this is exactly what happened this year in Vietnam's newspapers. It is part of a
Media Campaign on Integrated Early Child Development (IECD), the purpose of which is to get people to look at and interact with infants and children
in a new, magical, holistic way. It is a project of the Vietnamese Government, supported by UNICEF.
So the advertisement called for creative and talented artists, writers, photographers, composers and traditional media to be trained to develop media for young children themselves and also for their caregivers. Vietnam is rich in culture, storytelling and tradition - but thus far there has been a dearth of media for the smallest children, especially about topics like self-esteem, learning through play and curiosity. And research increasingly shows that these are the characteristics that are necessary for not only success in school - but in life. And, they must and can be nurtured through responsive caregiving from the moments a child is born.
A very important part of the project is self-esteem and confidence of ALL children. So, how can ALL children feel good about themselves unless they have positive role models that look like them and they can aspire to be like? And how can this be done unless ALL people are part of developing as well as represented in the project. Thus the ad. Women, people with disabilities, people from all ethnic groups are encouraged to participate. And women, people with disabilities and people from all ethnic groups will be represented in the media. Here are a few examples from what has been developed thus far.
The KAP Study
Before starting the campaign, a study was conducted on the "Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) of caregivers. It looked at questions like "When does an infant begin to see?" to "How do you encourage curiosity in young children?" The answers to these questions obviously can determine how a caregiver interacts with a one day old, a one year old, a three year old. And if the campaign is about encouraging responsive playful interactions with children, especially those under the age of 5 years - one had better know what is currently believed and practiced. It also looked at health and hygiene practices, as well as attitudes and practices with regard to gender, disability and ethnicity.
In search of role models
Before beginning the KAP, the interviewers were instructed to look for
positive deviance
- people who
did the right thing, in spite of all obstacles. People who were role models that we might use in the campaign to inspire others - but these were
real people
like themselves.
One such woman was found in the ethnic H'Mong community in the Quan Ba district of Vietnam. Most H'Mong people like in the mountains and are often poor and illiterate. This is where Vang Thi Ho was born - and she was born deaf.
Ho was illiterate but she was hard-working and helped her family. At the age of around 13, she was one of the best embroiderers in her village. She learned the skill at her mother's knee.
When she was 16 years old, Ho was married and she had four sons and a daughter. Her husband died when the children were still quite young and she then became the sole breadwinner of the family. Sadly, her daughter also died. But Ho worked hard in the fields cultivating rice, corn and cassava. She taught her children not through speaking but through gestures. The older children taught the younger ones - and all of the four children could communicate with their mother through these gestures - their own "sign language".
Ho sent all of her sons to school and they all became literate. She now has 7 grandchildren. They are still quite poor, but they are literate, speak Vietnamese (the H'Mong have their own language) and are a close family. And Ho - now 55 years old - is still the best embroiderer in her village!
My Wonderful Grandpa
At a Media Workshop in October 2001, one of the groups was asked to develop a children's story that helped to build not only the self-esteem of a child but also of her/his caregiver. There is a growing genre of children's books that do this - and these have particular potential for newly literate caregivers who are reading to their young children. The story is called
"My Wonderful Grandpa".
It is the story of a little girl who has had polio. Her parents love her but they do not let her explore and play: they "overprotect" her. Her Grandpa, however, understands how happy it would make her to be able to explore her surroundings and to play with other friends. So he builds a little "wheelchair" for her with bamboo, takes her all around her village, shows her everything there is to see and encourages her to speak and ask questions. She tells him that she would like to walk and so, again with his bamboo and simple tools, he makes her bars that she can use to practice walking. He and other children are there to encourage her as she builds her leg muscles and tries to walk. Finally, a day comes when she can go to kindergarten - and in the illustration you can see her bamboo crutches and her face light up as she listens with awe at the story the teacher is reading to the class. On the last page is an illustration of the little girl pinning a badge on her grandfather. She says "At the end of the week, the teacher gives me a "good child" badge. I show it to Grandpa. What a wonderful Grandpa I have!"
The story, about community-based rehabilitation practices, about integration in school, about equal opportunities - presents a model for similar initiatives.
Next Steps
The project continues. So far there have been over 100 applicants who have answered the "WANTED" ad - some with disability. A short-list of the applicants will be trained. Prototype mass media and interpersonal media, such as books and posters, will be developed and tested around the country. There might be a poster with 6 caregivers doing wonderful things with babies - hopefully at least one of the caregivers will have a disability. In books about all kinds of children - light and dark skinned, girls and boys, children from various ethnic groups, children who are disabled, will be included.
There are many ways to teach about disability and to help change attitudes that might not be empowering or enabling. One approach is to directly talk about and address the topic. The other approach is more subtle but is the kind that shows we are walking the walk of the U.N. Conventions and our efforts to give
all children and adults equality.
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