A TRUE INSPIRATION

With a charming smile, she made her way into one of the large meeting rooms in this imposing hotel in Kathmandu. She was one of the thousands of delegates for the South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) being organised by the governments of South Asian countries. In 2013, it was the turn of Nepal to play the host. And the grand hotel in Kathmandu seemed to be just the right venue – centrally located, extremely well equipped and with the capacity to hold thousands of delegates across several of its large meeting rooms. Protocols also had to be observed as many top ranking politicians from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Maldives, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal would be attending, together with an entourage of officials. Also in attendance were several representatives of international organisation, NGOs and the private sector.

But as she made her way through the busy corridors, she had to stop several times, at several places. She was obviously quite well known and so people wanted to stop to have a chat with her, shake her hand, exchange visiting cards. And she did so with amazing patience, grace and charm – and inspite of her youth, there was a certain maturity and gravitas about her that one could notice very quickly. But, as I said, she stopped many times on her way to one of the meeting halls, where she was either a panellist, making a presentation, or in the audience listening keenly to the presentations and making it a point to ask a question – so that she could make a point.

So what was it that made her special ? She was Amrita Gyawali, an activist and a crusader for rights of people who are disabled. She herself was severely disabled and a wheelchair user. But that, in her view, was just a fact of life. She was on a mission – to ensure that people with disabilities have adequate and appropriate access to water, sanitation and hygiene services.

It was during one such panel discussion that I happened to listen to her speak. She was perhaps the last speaker on the panel. There was a very articulate and slick presentation by a lady representing a Geneva based organisation. There was an academic presenting his experiences from Pakistan. There was a community leader from India talking about his campaign on behalf of people living in the slums. And then it was Amrita’s turn to speak.

“I am here to speak on behalf of people with disabilities like myself”, she said, softly, yet firmly. “It is sometimes difficult to understand why our needs are not  understood. And it is not just about public places and public facilities. Even in this hotel, which is a 5-star hotel and caters to the needs of the elite and the well-off tourists, I had trouble getting in. I had to be physically carried up the short flight of stairs in my wheelchairs by some men for me to come here and talk to you today”, she said. As she looked around, there was total silence. Silence as people tried to absorb what it meant or a silence of embarrassment.

“But this is quite common, so it does not come as a total surprise. And as someone who has been disabled from a very young age, I have come to live with it, but we cannot accept this anymore. I have suffered and faced severe disadvantages at every stage in my life, at every place I have visited. As a child in school, I struggled because it was difficult for me to get into the toilet without being assisted. At times, I had to face the immense embarrassment of having to relieve myself while I am in my class, much to the disgust of other pupils. And can you even think of what my situation would have been when I became an adolescent girl and started menstruating”, she continued. Her voice was calm. There was no anger in her voice, which seemed very strange for someone who had faced so many challenges in her young life. But, there was firmness. Firmness to state her issues as they were – stark and real. Firmness in being determined to make a point and make people think differently.

“The situation was the same when I pursued higher education. There were toilets for girls, but that was a distance, away from the building and not accessible. My classroom was not always on the ground floor, and even if it was on the ground floor, there were no ramps, so it was always a challenge to get into the building and into the classroom. I always had to depend on the mercy of my friends, who were very supportive. But my independence was affected. I did not even have the most basic freedom to move around, attend classes or use the toilet without being dependent on someone all the time”.

“And for those of you who are from Kathmandu, do you realise that in this big city, we have 61 public toilets, but none of them are accessible to people like myself ? So if we were to go out to do a bit of shopping or for leisure, how do you expect us to relieve ourselves ? Even many of the restaurants and cinemas do not have accessible toilets. Don’t we exist ? Don’t we too have some basic needs that any human being has”? she asked. Again, there was no anger. Just stating of facts. Just that same firmness and determination. This was such a great opportunity for her to advocate, to lobby, and she was not going to let that go. Here she was, young and articulate, and here she was on a mission – to make a difference to the lives of people with disabilities around the world, in enabling them access some of the most basic facilities and most basic rights – that of water, sanitation and hygiene, and thus enable them to lead a life of dignity.

A thunderous applause followed her presentation. Many people were on their feet to applaud. Many were moved to tears. And she made her way out of the hall, she was greeted by many. Journalists were lining up to interview her. She met everybody with her trademark smile and her charm. She did not hold any grudges against anyone. She was just making a point, a simple point.

Later, I learnt a bit more about her personal story. Her family met with a serious accident when they were travelling in Nepal. All of them perished, but little Amrita, who was only 3 then, survived, but with severe disabilities. She had been physically immobile since then. She was taken to the SOS Children’s Village where she grew up and in their care, she blossomed into a bright young girl with ambitions, and more importantly, a desire to be independent. With the help of some friends, she tried her hand at various jobs.

At some point, she got in touch with WaterAid Nepal, who were very keen to mainstream disability in all their programmes and advocacy work. That was something that resonated with Amrita, and soon, she started working with our Kathmandu based team as a consultant. But, she still had an issue of accessing the toilet. That spurred our team to convert a toilet on the ground floor to being disabled friendly – that in itself was educational for the team. Her work space was also adapted such that she could work comfortably using the desk space.

But Amrita’s campaign is far from over. She is always on the forefront when advocating for rights of people with disability for better living and a life of dignity. And her style remains the same – calm, firm and charming !