Join the nappy run in aid of disabled children
Come and celebrate the lives of children living with disabilities during the annual Nappy Run at Johannesburg Zoo.
The annual awareness donation-drive of the Nappy Run in October has kicked off and culminates on 3 November with a 5km fun run event at the Johannesburg Zoo to acknowledge and celebrate children with disabilities.
According to Unicef’s annual State of the World’s Children report, children with disabilities and their communities would both benefit if society focused on what those children can achieve, rather than what they cannot do.
This is exactly what the Nappy Run campaign aims to draw attention to through the month-long awareness campaign.
First and foremost, children with disabilities should be considered as the valuable members of society they are, just like each and every other human being.
They should be included and considered in system design as well as supported, embraced and engaged in our communities so as to achieve their full potential.
It is the basic human right of every human being, of every South African according to the Constitution, to lead a comfortable life and be treated with dignity, especially free from the long-term effects of negative stereotypes, discriminatory mindsets and systems, and stigmatization.
The South African government also has an obligation under the Constitution as well as national policy and legislation such as the Children’s Act, to take care of each and every child equally as well as to set up child protection services that are able to protect and safeguard all children.
This is so needed in South Africa where almost double the number of children with disabilities, compared to their typical peers, lives at or below the national poverty line.
Very often, children with disabilities receive daycare from community-based and volunteer-driven centres that have very limited resources.
As a nappy is costly and mostly considered as a luxury item, there is this daily challenge of incontinence combined with a lack of resources which results in many of our country’s children with disabilities and special needs not being cared for adequately.
On top of this, every child with special needs or a disability has the right to an education and to be included in the South African school system.
The Nappy Run campaign throughout October is set to make a strong and positive impact on the lives of thousands of children with disabilities, not only in terms of the difference that the donated nappies will make in providing in a basic need but in terms of the overall advancement of the dignity, care, development and social inclusion of many children with disabilities.
