We had a proud moment a few months ago when Kuya Miguel won first place in the Arts Category during the National Disability Week Celebration at their school. If you are not in the know, the National Disability Rights Week is commemorated every year from July 17 to 23. But why do we need to observe it? Or what could be its significance?
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| Mommy and Miguel during the awarding ceremony |
This celebration acts as a platform to help build awareness about the rights of people with disability and also promote inclusivity among persons with disability. In short, they are people with the same set of rights as the other members of society and should be included in all aspects of the community. On a further note, the National Disability Rights Week also encourages collaboration between the private and public sectors and the communities to promote a more inclusive environment.
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| Mommy and Miguel |
The program at Miguel’s school was actually a fun-filled occasion and loaded with activities for parents and kids. There were face-painting activities, trampolines were set up, there were games, and lots of freebies from the sponsors. It was made for children like Miguel (and also Rafa, who participated in some games and arts activities).
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| Mommy and Rafa |
As for the “Arts Contest,” we were not really expecting it to be a competition. We thought it was just a regular arts activity in which the kids drew figures and colored the usual worksheets from their daily activities.
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| Face painting activity |
It was only a week (or two) after the National Disability Rights Week celebration when we were informed by Miguel’s teacher that he “won” first place (or first prize) in the Arts Category. Of course, we were proud of our Kuya Miguel, but we were also surprised because we didn’t realize that their activities were being judged.
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| Kuya Miguel during the coloring activity |
Anyway, Miguel’s class had an awarding in their classroom the next weekend. He received a ribbon, a certificate, and a lunch bag prize for his work. Good job, Kuya! We were also happy because there are celebrations like the National Disability Rights Week, wherein the government can further push for disability acceptance and awareness.
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| Rafa also joined the arts activities |
It was also good that it was held in a school because we also need to expose our other children, the neurotypical ones, to the fact that there are other kids who are not like them but need to be treated fairly, nonetheless.
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