July 20, 2022: Gender Dysphoria and Being a woman with Disability in Nigeria
We celebrated Disability Pride month with an impactful conversation with Rita Ofili, disability activist and wheelchair model, and Eva Schaefer, communication trainer and facilitator.
“I am not a Wheelchair Lady. My name is Rita, Miss Wheelchair Nigeria. I am a lady who uses mobility aid as wheelchair.” Rita spoke about how the discrimination and lack of empathy dehumanizes disabled people and their conditions. She broke down in tears when conveying the lack of support from the Nigerian government and how it is normal for institutions to exclude disabled people.
Eva, who is from Ukraine, remarked “In times of war, incidents of injustice and discrimination, which used to be there anyway during the times of peace get just extremely intensified.” She spoke about how the lives of the disabled and trans women have become increasingly harder in her home country, Ukraine.
They spoke about how we need to move away from mechanical miracles where everything is fixed and predefined. They put forth the idea of spiritual miracles where mutual respect is applied to deal with differences and diversity.