If your daily commute to work forces you to be in traffic for hours, or to elbow your way into overcrowded public transport, you probably need little convincing about the importance of quality transport. Now, imagine your frustration if you were mobility impaired.
For many persons with disabilities, this is not fiction, but a real daily struggle.
Much of South Africa’s public transport remains completely off limits for persons with disabilities. When transport is available it is difficult to use and often expensive, turning even the shortest trip into a nightmare.
The QuadPara Association of South Africa (QASA) has used its participation in Casual Day – South Africa’s largest fundraising event for the disability sector – to provide a pathway of opportunity that will help Qasa protect and further the interests of persons with paraplegia and quadriplegia.
During the 2016 Casual Day campaign the association raised over R400 000 through sticker sales. This money will now be used to make getting around easier for persons with mobility impairments.
One of the programmes that QASA will be running is a functional-driving training programme that will give its members a chance to learn to drive and to qualify for a driver’s licence.
Another initiative, dubbed the Digital Village computer training programme, makes a difference by making applying for a job much easier. Participants in the training will be taught how to compile a CV, apply for a job and prepare for job interviews.
The money will also help QASA continue with its work of distributing assistive devices to people who need them. A wheelchair is often a lifeline for persons with mobility impairments, allowing them greater freedom to live independently and creating opportunities to interact with friends, family and their communities in new ways.
The theme this year for Casual Day, which is sponsored by the Edcon Group, is Celebrate diversity with persons with disabilities.
Casual Day is a national campaign run by the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD). It will take place on 1 September this year. The NCPD is a leading advocate for persons with disabilities. The council plays an active role in promoting and building a more inclusive society in South Africa where persons with disabilities are able to access equal social and economic opportunities.
The money raised through Casual Day sticker sales directly benefits about 40 000 persons with disabilities, while indirect beneficiaries of the campaign total almost 3-million South Africans.
All the money that is raised by Casual Day goes to benefit a wide range of organisations, including those for persons with hearing loss, persons with psychiatric disabilities, and persons with physical disabilities and mental health challenges, cerebral palsy, quadriplegia, paraplegia, Down syndrome, Alzheimer’s and autism.
