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At the Intersection of Gender and Disability
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Meet DJP Fellow Oluwabukolami Omolara Badmus
June 26, 2021
Oluwabukolami Omolara Badmus is a 33-year-old disability rights activist and feminist based in Lagos, Nigeria. She is both the financial secretary and Lagos state coordinator for the Lionheart Ability Leaders International Foundation (LALIF).
LALIF’s mission is to generally “educate, enlighten, and empower the people on issues related to persons with disabilities, women and children, among others.” Badmus is also an educator, teaching at a government/public high school.
Since 2019, part of LALIF’s major organizational focus has been on people with Usher Syndrome, a condition that causes DeafBlindness. After realizing how little Nigerian citizens know about the syndrome and those who live with it, Badmus is now actively involved in educating people, from government officials to educators, about it.
Badmus was born in Ibadan in 1988. She grew up in Ondo State, but her native home is located in Osun State. She is part of a large family with nine other siblings. She had some familial support even though growing up as a person with a disability in her family came with challenges. “My mom has been a supportive pillar since I was, ever since I was born,” says Badmus.
Growing up in Nigeria wasn’t easy: “There is no proper infrastructure put in place for people living with disability.” In her opinion, the government isn’t making enough of an effort to be more socially inclusive of people with disabilities. “Though they say they’re trying their best, but to me, their best has not been enough,” she says. Badmus remains hopeful that conditions will improve.
During her senior year in high school in 2001, Abike Dabiri (a known journalist) visited her school and sparked her interest in journalism. She originally planned to study journalism at a university, but she was unable to due to financial constraints at the time. Badmus attended a teacher’s college in the meantime.
Her activism roots, on the other hand, stemmed from her later days at University of Ibadan, where she studied education and political science. She also helped form the “Special Persons Club,” an organization for students with disabilities. Badmus says, “My relationship with people, with other people living with disabilities has been … very very wonderful. Because, from … relating with them, I was able to know that, apart from the fact that … one word band[ed] us together, that this is the word ‘disability’ [brought] us together, we still have our individual differences.”
Her passion for disability rights activism has endured over time. She places a particular focus on women with disabilities in regard to her advocacy work. Women with disabilities in Nigeria face a myriad of “intersectional” hurdles. For example, “If you look at the percentage of the employment rate of people living with disability, the women are really really lacking behind,” says Badmus.
She is looking forward to honing her journalism skills and creating a documentary after her fellowship with the Disability Justice Project. She intends to share stories of people with DeafBlindness and women with disabilities – of both “their inclusion and exclusion.”
Her positive impact on others continues to motivate her work. “Passion. My passion, the love, the smiles I see on people’s faces, that is what has been inspiring me…”
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.”