Breaking Chains
Following her husband’s death by suicide, Santoshi BK experienced depression and hallucinations. She gained support through a self-help group and has become an advocate for those with psychosocial disabilities.
Filmmaker: Sanjaya Raj Neupane
Sanjaya Raj Neupane is the advocacy coordinator at KOSHISH, an organization amplifying the voices of persons with psychosocial disabilities. Read more about Sanjaya Raj Neupane
Crossroads
DJP Fellow Sita Sah explores the challenges and societal barriers faced by blind women in Nepal, highlighting both their personal struggles and the collective activism aimed at systemic change.
Filmmaker: Sita Sah
Sita Sah is a project assistant at the Blind Women Association Nepal (BWAN) with over five years of professional experience across various sectors and NGOs. Read more about Sita Sah
Rise Up!
Women with disabilities in the Solomon Islands face barriers to employment. When Diana Ma’ahoro experienced these firsthand, she enrolled in a national leadership program. Now she's a renowned disability rights activist in the Pacific.
Filmmaker: Melvina Voua
Melvina Voua is a member of People with Disability Solomon Islands (PWDSI), the umbrella body of organizations for people with disabilities in the Solomon Islands. Read more about Melvina Voua
News From the Global Frontlines of Disability Justice
Voices Unsilenced
Often dismissed as a personal concern, mental health is a societal issue, according to Srijana KC, who works as a psychosocial counselor for the Nepali organization KOSHISH. KC’s own history includes a seizure disorder, which resulted in mental health challenges. She faced prejudice in both educational settings and the workplace, which pushed her towards becoming a street vendor to afford her medications. Now with KOSHISH, she coordinates peer support gatherings in different parts of Nepal. “It is crucial to instill hope in society, recognizing that individuals with psychosocial disabilities can significantly contribute,” she says.
Capturing Vision Through Sound and Touch
Last summer, the DJP trained Indigenous activists with disabilities from the Pacific on the iPhone camera to create a documentary series on disability and climate change. With VoiceOver, the iPhone provides image descriptions for blind and low-vision filmmakers and offers other accessible features. “If you think about it, it doesn’t make sense for a blind person to use a camera,” says DJP filmmaker Ari Hazelman. “The iPhone gives you more avenues to tell your story in a more profound way as a blind person.”
Beyond the Frame
DJP mentor Kishor Sharma is known for his long-term photography and film projects exploring community and change. Over the last 12 years, he has been documenting the nomadic Raute people in mountainous Nepal. With any project, Sharma aims to actively engage participants, sharing photography and videography techniques. In September, Sharma became a mentor to DJP Fellow Chhitup Lama. He was eager to connect “this idea of sharing the visual technique with the storytelling idea and the issue of disability inclusion.”
‘I Am Left With Nothing’
Recent flooding in Rwanda has left many persons with disabilities without homes and jobs. “Sincerely speaking, I [am] left with nothing,” says Theophile Nzigiyimana, who considers himself lucky to have escaped the flooding. The flooding demonstrates the disproportionate impacts that disasters have on persons with disabilities, which will only intensify as climate change continues.
‘Leadership Training is a Key Focus’
DJP Fellow Sita Sah interviews Neera Adhikari about starting the Blind Women Association Nepal (BWAN) and the steps BWAN has taken to advance the rights of Nepali women who are blind and low-vision. Women with disabilities, particularly those living in rural areas, “face discrimination from family and society which prevents them from venturing outside their homes,” says Adhikari. “In a household where there are two children, one disabled son and one daughter, societal beliefs often favor sending the son to school while neglecting the daughter’s education.”
Accessible Instruction
Nepal has between 250,000 and one million Deaf people, but most do not attend school. In many schools for Deaf individuals, education ends at 10th grade, and higher education is rarely available and often inadequate. DJP Fellow Bishwamitra Bhitrakoti interviews Satya Devi Wagle from the National Federation of the Deaf Nepal about the strategies, challenges and successes of her work on inclusive education. “Because hearing teachers are not competent in sign language, there is no quality instruction in a resource class in Nepal,” she says. “We are working … to create a Deaf-friendly curriculum.”