IT was an emotional yet joyful event that took place at the New Kingston Conference Centre, where the National Youth Service (NYS) held its closing ceremony for the Kingston leg of its Empowerment Programme for young people with disabilities.

The programme was a six-month engagement for people with mild intellectual disabilities that started out with a three-week non-residential camp and was followed by supported work experience in various fields such as technology and agriculture.

The ceremony saw participants, parents, employers and well-wishers celebrating the young people’s achievements through various musical items, video testimonials and presentations by members of the NYS as well as the participants themselves.

“Courage is the most important virtue…without courage, you cannot attain any other virtue,” said Shawna Thomas, a participant in the programme in her presentation. Thomas thanked the NYS and the respective employers, on behalf of her 19 other colleagues, for the opportunity to feel normal and for making the programme a success.

“This programme is an opportunity to honour your talent, honed your skills to see your abilities and not your disabilities…I know people who came into this programme who were shy and held their heads down. I see nobody holding their head down right now,” said chairperson for NYS, Maureen Webber.

Webber said that as parent with a 23-year-old son with severe disabilities, she understands the challenges parents and guardians face due to the fact that there are limited opportunities for their children; and knows that more needs to be done for people with disabilities.

“I know parents whose kids have 10 CXCs and they don’t appreciate the first time your child held a spoon and fed him or herself. I celebrate those things, so as a country, and as individuals, we celebrate just getting to the starting line, not just who has won the race but the fact that we as parents have steered the course and believe in our children”, Webber said.

She was not the only person who had heartfelt words to offer, as the father of Kevin Patterson, one of the participants in the programme could hardly contain his joy and pride for his son’s newest accomplishments.

“I remember when the programme started, there was so many things that Kevin would not want to do. But since being in the programme, Kevin decided there were a lot of things that he would do…For instance, the programme helped him to get organised. The programme has helped him to be more assertive in what he wants to do, it has also given him a sense of empowerment”, Patterson said.

The father, who was overcome with tears as he spoke, said he recalled the first time his son got paid and said, “Daddy, see $1,000 here”, and went to purchase a DVD player for his room. He even joked that if the programme had continued until the end of of the year, he would have needed to build a bigger room for his son.

“The feeling was so overwhelming to see Kevin and to know where Kevin was coming from, and to see where he is today, it really is an awesome experience”, Patterson continued.

Guest speaker Senator Floyd Morris, who is blind, also lauded the efforts of the NYS and its supporters and encouraged participants to keep pursuing educational excellence.

“A lot of institutions are charged with various responsibilities by the State to implement programmes and policies for individuals and, in implementing programmes and policies, oftentimes persons with disabilities are neglected. And I want to commend the National Youth Service for the progressive approach they have adapted in terms of implementing a core programme that is beneficial to persons with disabilities,” he said.

The senator called on all government agencies to ensure they too will follow the template laid out by the NYS and implement programmes and policies that will impact persons with disabilities.

“We just conducted a socioeconomic study of persons with disabilities in Jamaica, and when you look at the data, out of the 1,014 individuals with disabilities that were surveyed, 91.6 per cent of them are unemployed, which indicates the major challenge confronting persons with disabilities in Jamaica today is that of employment,” Morris stated.

He said the challenge has come about because there are some serious problems in terms of providing education and training for persons with disabilities, as the education system is structured in such a way that impedes access. Morris said this is inclusive of physical access, technological access, as well as professional access because a lot of professionals in the education system don’t know how to relate to people with disabilities.

He commended the NYS on its approach to getting the participants prepared and highlighted that the programme was a good investment visible in the success of the 20 participants. He also commended the companies at which the young people were placed, as at least one of them said they wanted the person to come back and work at the business.

“As you leave the NYS training programme, don’t see it as the end of your journey, in terms of training, it is a confidence-builder, it is a stepping stone for you to move onto other things. Don’t let anybody tell you that have an intellectual disability so you can’t accomplish anything for yourself,” Morris advised the participants.

He added that he was very happy that the Government passed the Disabilities Act in parliament last October and that there is a legislative framework to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. Under the Act, it gives persons with disabilities the right to access educational institutions, housing, transportation, health services as well as providing a mechanism for persons if their rights are violated.

” … I must tell you that I am disappointed that, to date, we have not seen the various provisions being rolled out. And I am calling upon the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to implement that legislation which was passed by the Parliament in 2014; that piece of legislation that is designed to protect the rights of over 400,000 persons with disabilities in our country and it is critical to their empowerment,” Morris said.