Transcript for ‘Put Words into Action!’

The video begins with a piano instrumental playing and a black screen with yellow words. A woman narrator reads the words, “Malawi Accessibility Challenges.”

Video cuts to a driveway, where Bernadetta Vazi, a woman in a wheelchair, is moving toward a curtained doorway. As she disappears into the doorway, a girl with a green shirt begins to run across the driveway but shyly stops when she sees the camera.

Video cuts to another driveway, where Derrick Kumwenda, a man in a wheelchair, is being pushed by another man up a steep ramp to a doorway. The ramp is blocked by a rolled-up rug, and the wheelchair is unable to get past it.

Cut to a yellow screen with black words. The narrator reads the words, which say, “12 years since Malawi ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).”

The screen transitions to brown with white and yellow words that the woman continues to read, “It is 10 years into Malawi Disability Act.”

The video cuts to Sekerani Kufakwina, who is a government human resource officer and disability advocate. Sekerani is Deaf. He wears a red and white shirt with tan khakis and is sitting in a chair outside. A phone is on his lap. A sign language interpreter appears on the bottom-right corner of the screen and interprets for the remainder of the video.

Sekerani signs as the narrator interpret, “Malawi ratified the UNCRPD in 2009. A lot was just signed on paper with no implementation. The policyholders and general public have a poor understanding on issues of accessibility. Physical access and access to information is still a challenge.”

The screen cuts to a yellow background with black words. The narrator reads, “Poor accessibility continues to deny persons with disabilities independence, posing a safety and security threat.”

The screen cuts to Derrick again as he gets out of a white car, assisted by the same man as before. After shutting the car door, Derrick neatly stacks a folder with white papers on his lap as he is wheeled toward the ramp, which we see if blocked by the rug.

The screen cuts to an interview with Derrick sitting in his wheelchair outside a white stucco building. He is wearing a purple and white striped shirt, black pants, and white sports shoes. He introduces himself: “My name is Derrick Kumwenda. I’m paraplegic, I have what is spinal cord injury. And currently, I’m a credit analyst working for National Economic Empowerment Fund.”

The video cuts to a newspaper headline that says “Make ATMs user friendly.”

Derrick continues, “I‘ve had challenges in accessibility, mostly to the public sector buildings and services.” Cut to a photo of a wheelchair-inaccessible “NB Moneycard” ATM. “I cannot go to the market because the places are not accessible for someone who is disabled, mostly on a wheelchair.” The video cuts to a point-of-view shot of an “NB Moneycard” branch from inside a car. Because of the way the ramps are constructed, I cannot do it on my own,” says Derrick. The video cuts to a steep inaccessible wheelchair ramp entrance to a building. “I have to rely on someone to push me on the wheelchair. So, sometimes you find that the person who is pushing you is not experienced enough and they can even push you away from the ramps.”

The video cuts to Derrick being pushed up the blocked ramp again. The man pushing him is unable to get the wheelchair past the rug and has to move it out of the way.

Derrick continues, “The workspace is not that friendly because the workstations that are there are not accessible enough for someone on a wheelchair. Because this problem, I’m forced either to come out of the office to visit nearby places whereby I can access the toilets, or sometimes I’m forced to work from home.”

The video cuts to a headline that says, “People with disabilities struggle in Malawi’s cities.” The sub-headline says, “How can the Sustainable Development Goals help children with disabilities in Malawi’s cities?

Derrick continues, “In my opinion government is giving a blind eye to the whole situation because each and every year the budget passes by.”

The video cuts to another headline that says, “Malawian school children with disability struggle to access drinking water and toilets.”

Derrick continues, “We are even given an example of the Ministry of Disability whereby I would have thought that that would have been the most friendly place.”

The video cuts to a photo of several people sitting in the wing of the Disability Ministry.

Derrick continues, “You find that to access the wing of the Disability [Ministry]; it’s on the second floor, and most of the times the lifts to the place are broken down. Newly constructed buildings.”

The video cuts to a man walking up a ramp to get to the wing of the Disability Ministry. A caption reads, “The ramp is too steep.” Then the video cuts to a photo of another steep ramp.

Derrick continues, “Newly constructed buildings, they easily pass by the city assemblies and the city councils whereby they are supposed to be rejected because most of the buildings are not disabled-friendly.” Cut to another photo of a steep ramp.

The video cuts to Bernadetta as she negotiates a steep hill in her wheelchair. Cut to an interview with Bernadetta. She is wearing a black shirt, pants, and shoes. She sits in her wheelchair in a shaded grove of trees. Bernadetta [speaking in Chichewa] says, “Bernadetta Vazi, Executive Director of Joy Abilities Empowerment. As the director of JAE, I’m quite often called to meetings in different hotels.”

The video cuts to a photo of Bernadetta holding a microphone and speaking in a hotel lobby. Cut to another photo of Bernadetta sitting with colleagues at a hotel conference table. Bernadetta continues, “However, I fail to concentrate on the meeting’s agenda, as I keep thinking of how I access the different facilities.”

The video cuts to a photo of a hotel bathroom. A caption reads, “Wheelchair-inaccessible bathroom design.”

Bernadetta says, “I switch my focus to how I will maneuver whilst my colleagues, physically able-bodied, are relaxed.”

The video cuts to Bernadetta pushing down a dirt road in a wheelchair.

The video cuts to a yellow screen with black words, and the narrator reads, “A fundamental human right is for disabled people to gain access and participation on an equal level with others, regardless of our impairments.”

The video transitions to another yellow screen with black words and the narrator reads, “Article 9, paragraphs 2 (d) and (e) of the UNCRPD, provide that buildings and other places open to the public should have signage in Braille and in easy-to-read and understandable form.”

“And that live assistance and intermediaries, including guides, readers and professional sign-language interpreters should be provided to facilitate accessibility.”

The video cuts to Sekerani’s interview again. He signs, “Government should try to find sign language interpreter trainings.”

The video cuts to vaccine footage by Reuters of Malawian officials displaying COVID vaccines. Several people wear masks with a crowd around them.

Sekerani continues, “Because of the language barrier, Deaf persons in the country have inadequate information on COVID and its updates.” The video cuts to two doses of the COVID vaccine on a red table. A brief cut to multiple COVID vaccines in a cardboard box. “Like vaccination and information on the recently discovered variant,” he says.

The video cuts to shots of the Kamuzu Central Hospital.

Sekerani continues, “This information is broadcasted on TV on daily basis, but it is in a language that a Deaf person can’t understand.”

Cut to a yellow screen with black letters. The narrator reads, “Currently, there are less than 10 professional sign language interpreters in Malawi. The national media house has two interpreters restricted to news, which is 1 to 3 percent of national coverage. With this, not even the presidential national address on COVID is covered.”

Cut to a newspaper headline that reads, “Malawi government shows little interest in improving access to information.”

The video cuts to a woman, Martha Chambalo, wearing a flowing purple skirt and red blouse walking barefoot around the corner of a building. Cut to Martha Chambalo sitting on a chair in front of the bumper of a red van.

Martha [speaking in Chichewa] says, “I’m Martha Chambalo, popularly known as Mrs. Kainga. I am a visually impaired lady. I’m the teacher at the Nanthenje Primary School. I became visually impaired at a young age.”

The video cuts to Martha indoors, arranging furniture in a living room.

Martha says, “Growing up, I encountered several challenges. In class when given assignments, I couldn’t read on the chalkboard. I relied on classmates to read it out for me but some denied to help.”

The video cuts to Martha straightening a tablecloth in a living room.

She continues, “I could stay behind to copy notes. Books were scarce at school, even at the teacher training college, which made it hard for me to learn.

The video cuts to another shot of Martha straightening a tablecloth in a living room.

She continues, “ It is by God’s grace and my hard work that I completed school.”

Video cuts to Martha seated behind a red van. She says, “Going to the borehole, people in the community laughed at me, saying I can’t draw water as I was blind. ‘Why does she bother to go to school? She can’t succeed. Even if she succeeds, who would employ a person who is visually impaired?’”

The video cuts to Martha arranging items in a living room. She says, “I see grace that I’m working and supporting even those that laughed at me. Working with the Minister of Education as a teacher, we are challenged with lack of teachers and learners with books that are in Braille.”

The video cuts to a shot of Martha collecting a book and placing it on a table in a living room.

Martha continues, “The Minister says it’s expensive, hence teachers with visual impairment fail to effectively deliver as fellow sighted colleagues do. Even writing materials like Perkins Brailler, stylus, and Marburg [Braille instrument setting] are not available. We just use our experience to teach. We ask colleagues to help read out tomorrow’s classwork. Some don’t offer to help, saying they don‘t share our salary.”

Cut to Martha reading a textbook in Braille as she sits in her living room. “In class, we use more intelligent pupils to identify those lacking behind and other class management methods like group work I employed.”

The screen cuts to a yellow screen with black words. The narrator says, “Accessibility is a civil right, a human rights principle running through the UNCRPD. Inaccessibility is discrimination, a violation of the right to equality, freedom of movement, or independent living.”

“Human rights are indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated. There is a cascading effect when just one right is denied.”

The video cuts to Martha sitting on the bumper of the red car, saying, “I feel government just wants to be perceived as thinking of us as people, persons with disabilities. but no tangible action. They are failing.

The video cuts to a slow-motion shot of Martha and her fingers reading Braille. “They say our Braille materials are expensive, why is government failing to buy Braille materials?” she asks. “This affects employment opportunities for the disabled. But yet the same government is able to buy books for other people, printers, which are equally expensive. Persons with disabilities are restricted to teaching because of accessibilities issues yet they can deliver beyond teaching. We are capable of being employed in various ministries. Disability should not be a barrier. I have never seen government giving assisted devices like white canes to the blind or wheelchairs to people with mobility challenges. Only non-government organizations intervene.”

The video cuts back to Sekerani’s interview. He signs, “I have few words. This is time to act. For years it has been a song and a lot has been signed. But this is a time to act. The 2018 Disability Act Agenda must be adapted. We have to act now. Paperwork time is over. Laws are provided. They must be followed and enforced.”

The video cuts to Derrick saying, “I think the government needs to really to think seriously about the Disability Act because it’s affecting most of the disabled people in the country. Economically, socially, they’ve been affected.”

The video cuts to Bernadetta moving outside in a wheelchair towards Julie-Marie Chibekete, another woman who is also in a wheelchair. Julie-Marie is holding a phone with a laptop on her lap. Derrick continues, “Because it doesn’t really necessarily require the government to push in money. There are some other issues that just need policy direction.”

The video cuts to a yellow background with black words. The narrator reads the words, which are all quotes from Sekerani, Martha, Derrick, and Bernadetta.

“Everyone, irrespective of disability, needs access to buildings and information. This is time to act!” – Sekerani Kufakwina

“Poor accessibility is a serious violation of our human rights. Accessible Language Now!” – Martha Chimbalo

“When I travel beyond Malawi I feel at home. I am more independent. We need an accessible Malawi now!” – Derrick Kumwenda

“Accessible buildings are essential for equal participation. Accessibility by Universal Design Now!” – Bernadetta Vazi

A title card says “Copyright @2022 SIAM All Rights Reserved.”

Transcript for Equal Opportunity for All

The video starts with soft, hopeful guitar music, mixed with some trumpet. Cut to a metal gate. Solomon Olakunle Okelola opens the gate and walks through. He is wearing a green button-down shirt and brown pants and has a headset around his neck. He is carrying a white cane. Okelola is a Nigerian man with closely cropped hair. He is DeafBlind.

“My name is Solomon Olakunle Okelola,” he says. He closes the gate behind him.

Cut to Okelola sitting in an interview. He is wearing a red turtleneck shirt and a hearing aid in one ear. The interview background is a white, shimmery curtain with diagonal stripes of brown and tan. “And I am the executive director Lionheart Ability Leaders International Foundation.”

Okelola locks the gate and, using his cane, walks toward the building. “Lionheart Ability Leaders International Foundation is a non-governmental organization of patriotic citizens who have the zeal to work together to make a difference in their society with special regard to individuals with disabilities – women and children.”

Okelola is standing at the bottom of the stairs. “Some people think DeafBlind cannot climb the staircase. Here we go!” he says. Okelola folds up his cane and starts walking up the stairs. When he gets to the top, he swings from a bar: “Here we are!”

Cut to inside the Lionheart offices. A man stands at a table, talking with staff. “We work to enlighten the general public and the government about the ability of individuals living with disability about the true nature and need of these individuals and how everybody can join hands together to provide for these needs with the aim of giving these individuals ample opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives in their society,” says Okelola. More shots from inside the office. A man with dark sunglasses sits in a chair. He has a mask around his neck and is wearing a brown striped, short-sleeve polo shirt. He is talking with the man standing at the table. A woman with albinism looks at her phone. She has long, brownish-red hair and is wearing a pink shirt and sunglasses on her head. Another woman with large glasses and her hair piled into bun smiles at the camera. She is wearing a pink, frilly blouse.

Cut to the man with dark sunglasses sitting in the chair. Okelola says, “We work to equip people with the communication, interpersonal and emotional intelligence that will enable them to live peacefully one with another to bring out the best of themselves for self-actualization and for societal progress and transformation.”

Cut to Okelola swinging from the bar at the top of the stairs. He says, “And!” He drops his cane, and it clatters down the stairs. “I think we have to do that one again,” he says. Someone laughs off-camera.

A quick fade to black, and then these words come onscreen: Copyright @2021 Lionheart Ability Leaders International Foundation. All rights reserved.

Transcript for If There’s a Wheel, There’s a Way

Video starts with soft piano music with guitar. Scader Louis, a Malawian woman with short dark hair and a pink shirt and floral pants, is seated in a wheelchair at her desk. She wheels her chair toward the camera. “So my name is Scader Louis,” she says. “I’m the co-founder of Spinal Injuries Association of Malawi.”

Video cuts to a closer shot of Scader at her desk, looking at her computer. “I’m also the vice-chairperson of Federation of Disability Organizations (FEDOMA) in Malawi,” says Scader, as the video cuts to her in an interview. She is seated in front of a beige couch and wall, with patterned brown-and-white curtains behind her.

Video cuts to a group of men in wheelchairs gathered in a circle outside. “SIAM – Spinal Injuries Association of Malawi – is a grouping of people like myself who have spinal cord injury,” says Scader. Video cuts to a series of photos of SIAM members. “And it was started by a group of, I think, five people (I was the only lady) in 2011 after we noted that persons with spinal cord injuries, we are facing a lot of challenges.”

Scader continues: “When you look at someone in a wheelchair like myself, often people assume that my challenges are the same as someone maybe with polio.” Video cuts to a photo of SIAM members seated on a bench inside. “With spinal cord injury comes a number of secondary complications with the injuries,” says Scader. “Because this is an acquired disability, you may not have had a full understanding of your rights as a person, but you also need to be integrated back into the community and be able to participate and to make your own contributions.”

Video cuts to a woman in a wheelchair collecting money. People are dancing around her and throwing money into her bucket. “So in 2011, there wasn’t a lot of information around spinal cord injuries,” says Scader. Video cuts to a series of photos of SIAM members. “There wasn’t a network, and because as a group we noted that gap we thought of starting this grouping, and I’m happy to report that over the years it has really grown,” she says. “So we are working with the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.” Video cuts to an exterior shot of the hospital. “We were also partnering then at the district level with Malawi Against Physical Disabilities (MAP), and we are visiting rehabilitation centers,” Scader adds. Video cuts to an exterior of MAP with a banner across the front of the building that says, “MAP: Malawi Against Physical Disabilities.”

Video cuts to a photo of a Malawian man pushing a woman in a wheelchair over a threshold and into a brick building. “We are also visiting our peers in their homes,” says Scader. “We are in all the regions in Malawi. We are in all the districts.”

Video cuts to a wide shot of a group of Malawian men playing basketball outside. You can hear someone off-camera laughing. “The funding that we recently received from DRF – the Disability Rights Fund – we are training more people to become peer supporters even in their districts, “Scader continues.

Video shows a young Malawian woman in a wheelchair receiving a certificate at an event. She and the presenter turn to the camera and pose with the certificate. “There’s a lot that we need to do because government really is not placing issues of disability as a priority,” says Scader. Video cuts to SIAM members in wheelchairs playing basketball outside.

“Government is a duty-bearer, so it is supposed to take care of its citizens,” she says. “Persons with spinal cord injury but also people with disabilities they do pay taxes, and they’re supposed to benefit from the programs that government is implementing.”

Video cuts to Scader in the interview. “We shouldn’t leave anyone behind, so we have to be involved from the designing to the planning to the implementation to the monitoring and all that, and this doesn’t only go to government but it also goes to non-government organizations because they are also implementing a lot of programs which are not inclusive by design,” she says.

Video shows more SIAM members playing basketball. It ends on the young woman in the wheelchair who received a certificate maneuvering her wheelchair and facing the camera for a second before turning away.

A title card says, “Copyright @2021 SIAM. All rights reserved.”

Transcript for It Takes a Village

Video opens with the Basoga Tribe from Uganda performing a cultural dance. They are wearing black T-shirts and long, orange scarves tied around their waists. Video cuts to TRIUMPH’s Uganda’s red and blue logo. Melancholic synth music starts to play.

“I needed a platform where I can use my story, my lived experience to build hope in other families who experienced mental health issues like what I’ve gone through,” says Robinah Alambuya, TRIUMPH’s Uganda’s executive director, “and displaying that it is possible to have mental health issue, yet you continue with your life, making a meaningful contribution to society.” Robinah is wearing a pink and brown shirt with star designs. Video cuts to a younger Robinah leading a meeting with other TRIUMPH members. Then it transitions to a photo of Robinah wearing a bright blue shirt and white headscarf. She is holding a sign that says, “#Stop Sexual Abuse!”.

“Our first meetings were in 2008,” she says. Video cuts to a photo of two TRIUMPH members holding a sign that says, “Why not affirmative action also in elections.”

“It was a family initiative to begin with. We began calling people on a monthly basis to come home and just to be…We take some tea together,” says Robinah. Video shows a series of photos of TRIUMPH member gatherings. “We would call members who have experienced mental health issues and they would come around – those who chose to come – they would come around and we just share some tea together, and we talk about these issues and our experiences. Then we’ll share information. We’ll do encourage one another. It was like a peer-support group.”

Video cuts to Robinah standing outside and talking with government officials. In the next shot, a group of young Ugandan women stands in a circle outside. “We come, and we share freely and openly that this is part of life and these people are part of our community, which we need to include them and make sure that they participate and actively get involved.”

Series of photos of TRIUMPH members and Robinah. “And also seeing the fruit from our lives, for us have stood out, and we began mentoring the younger people, so the younger people we’ve mentored especially the families can witness because, like children who have fallen out of school, some have come back to school,” says Robinah. “Children who had lost hope that maybe they would never make it in life, they have gone even up to university with the support that they get from the peer support that we give them – the information, the hope-building.”

Video shows a series of photos of young TRIUMPH members dancing and posing for the camera. “The impact of TRIUMPH and our work as prior TRIUMPH can be seen or witnessed by families. We have one of the younger ladies who is well-known – Esther Suubi, who was connected to me by the mother because I shared a lived experience,” says Robinah. “One of her years was really distracted by what she was experiencing.”

Video shows photos of Esther at various family and TRIUMPH events and also speaking to the camera as a spokesperson for TRIUMPH. “When she was connected to me, of course, I just kept on using my story and caused the heart to see light for the in the future, and then the training because we mediated on that time Disability Rights Fund had us to build the self-esteem of these younger women, adults and younger women with psychosocial disabilities,” says Robinah. “We were able to give trainings on building self-esteem, hope-building, and strengthening the peer support among the younger people.”

Robinah continues: “I’m so privileged to see that now she’s really serving in TRIUMPH. Happily, she’s now a peer educator, supporting others, and she’s even leading our Disability Justice Project as a fellow.” Video cuts to a photo of Esther holding a camera and then to a screenshot of an article Esther wrote for the Disability Justice Project. The headline is, “Teen Pregnancy During Covid: Triumph Uganda advocates for better access to sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls with disabilities.”

“I’m very proud, and I also feel good that I’ve added value in my lifetime,” says Robinah. “I’m adding value to other people’s lives.”

A black title card with black letters on a yellow background says, “Copyright – @2021. Triumph Uganda. All rights reserved.”