I knew I wanted to learn more about persons with disabilities and do more outside of the clinical context, but I didn’t know how to go about it.
Blog post by Hilda Diang, EDF intern in the International Cooperation team
The Advanced Master Program in Global Health at the University of Gent gave me that base and starting point to explore health from a broader perspective, not just the clinical aspect of physiotherapy I have always had. As one of the requirements of this program, we must complete an internship, then I thought…maybe with an organization with a focus on the rights of persons with disabilities, then EDF came up!
I have never had the opportunity to work around the social aspect or inclusion of person with disabilities in the society. So, this was to an extent a new arena, especially with the policies, advocacy, lobbying, and new notions like the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the human rights convention, how the European Union works, just to name a few. Though this was a new path, I knew I had something to offer given my experience in the clinical aspect of disability, and this was a great opportunity for me to transition – or should I say link – my clinical background related to persons with disabilities (physiotherapy) to the social aspect and their inclusion in society.
My golden opportunity
At the time of my internship, I was pregnant. In my country of origin, being a pregnant student is seen differently and chances of completing studies are quite limited. Even in Europe, very few organizations will give you the opportunity to carry out an internship while being pregnant, in my case about entering my 3rd trimester…but EDF granted me this rare opportunity and I told myself I was not going to waste it!
I had the privilege to be part of the International Cooperation team led by Marion Steff. Under her supervision and the supervision of Phillipa Tucker, Central and Eastern Europe Coordinator, I was included and exposed to lots of learning opportunities, including trainings, projects, key meetings and public hearings, and communication tasks.
My internship kicked off with an opportunity for me to enter the prestigious European Parliament for the 1st time, this is just one of the many experiences I made during my time at EDF.
The learning experience
My internship at EDF has opened my eyes and mind to lots of aspects and issues about persons with disabilities which I didn’t quite actively think about. The barriers faced by persons with disabilities are alarming, some of which unknown and ignored by society. These barriers are sometimes mostly associated only to physical barriers whereas there is more to it, for example web accessibility, communication barriers, attitudinal barriers, policy barriers to name a few. Also, some sub-groups of persons with disabilities are more marginalized such as women and children with disabilities. EDF is actively advocating against their institutionalization and the forced sterilization of women with disabilities. In addition, through EDF’s work responding to the ongoing war in Ukraine, I also realized how the issues faced by persons with disabilities exacerbates during crises and wars.
Although EDF’s name would that its work is limited just to the EU or Europe, through the international cooperation team, advocacy work and support is done out of EU to implement articles 11 and 32 of the CPRD (humanitarian action and international cooperation). The EU is the largest aid donor in the world and EDF is working to influence the EU’s work around the world to advance the rights of persons with disabilities.
My take-home package from EDF
I can’t enumerate all what I learned throughout my internship at EDF, but this organization has equipped me with various skills that will propel me into the professional path of advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities. Some of these skills include teamwork, project management, professional skills, improvement of personal skills including self-confidence, self-discipline, organization, planning, accessibility checks, mainstreaming disability inclusion in every aspect in the society, just to name a few. It is not about fixing the lives of persons with disabilities, rather changing society’s ideology and reorient society to be more inclusive of persons with disabilities. The slogan “Nothing About Us Without Us”, tells us about the importance of the inclusion of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations (OPDs/DPOs) in all aspects of decision making.
No knowledge is ever wasted as my physiotherapy background will still come in handy in the future. EDF will always be part of my success story!!!