by Jeremy Mogi – EM TV, Port Moresby
Having lost her leg in a childhood accident, amputee Almah Kuambu has dedicated much of her life to assisting other people with disabilities.
Kuambu travelled to Manus as part of the Strongim Pipol Strongim Nasen program, with fellow athlete with a disability, Ben Theodore, to push for more inclusiveness in mainstream society for people with disabilities.
Made possible through grants from Australian development agency AusAid, the program is looking at using assistive devices to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
An amputee herself, she has allowed herself to be a positive model for change, stating that many other people like her were in need of assistance and wanted to be a part of the community rather than being classed as invalid.
Another person also part of the program is Ben Theodore, a former athlete with a disability and former vice president of PNG Paralympics Committee. His firm belief is that the PNG Games will see a lot of individual medals collected by people disabilities.
A disability inclusive development plan is in place to allow for more involvement of disabled persons through the assistive devices project.
The program has already been rolled out to other centres in the country and hopes to cover all disabled persons in the country.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=dxj6MQ4IP44%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
