Meet our Disability Inclusion Facilitators: Musa Mwambu

About Musa

Musa officially joined the Make 12.4% Work Initiative in January 2018 as our 6th Disability Inclusion Facilitator. Aside from his role in the Initiative, he is the national representative for youth with disabilities at the National Youth Council, representative for youth with visual impairments – eastern region on the youth committee of the Uganda National Association of the Blind (UNAB), father, husband and a passionate Master of Ceremonies (MC) in his free time.

My October-November highlights

Thoughts: What I loved about Denmark was the accessibility! On the roads, there are lanes where people with visual impairment can move, buildings are accessible and so is the transportation. I’d love to visit again but this time, if given an opportunity, speak to the politicians and government to mainstream disability. Currently all disability issues are handled by the Disabled Persons’Organisation of Denmark (DPOD). Although the government funds them, I’d love to see that disability is mainstreamed so that all officials of government, including MPs can learn and know how to budget for inclusion in all programs and not just leave it to DPOD.

Thoughts: I had a number of supportive visits this month, but this one stood out to me.

Katushabe Racheal, is a person with short stature placed as a Social Worker Intern with African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE). I was impressed by the way the organisation is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure Racheal fits in. They got her an adjustable chair that was more favourable for Racheal than their standard office chairs. They were very welcoming! My observation is that they are willing to give more opportunities to persons with disabilities to work,  but had never gotten an opportunity to be supported by receiving technical support from an organisation or individual with disability knowledge.

Thoughts: My general thoughts are; many organisations and companies that we get to train have always wanted to include persons with disabilities in their programs and services but they did not know how. The only challenge is the knowledge gap. Before training, they are usually negative but after… they see the potential that they are yet to tap into. So DATs, for me, are an opportunity to give a service and to inspire as well.

Thoughts: It was a moment of learning for both students and I. I got a chance to inspire students, majority of whom had no hope of ever finding employment after university. It was also a moment to practice my role as a job coach in facilitating inclusive employment.

Thoughts: All work and no play makes Musa a dull man 🙂

Have a few words of encouragement for Musa? Contact us anytime!