Human Rights Day Reflections

Leslie visits with children in Ghana - Photo by Gregory Pitt

Three children.  All with inherent human rights.  Yet, the rights of each of these children has been violated in one way, or another.  One child narrowly escaped infanticide.  One child was rescued from a life in a plastic bin.  And one child was abandoned by her family. 

Their human rights were violated because each of these children live with a disability. 

One child was born with missing bones in his legs.  One child has severe cerebral palsy.  And another child was born with under-developed arms. 

Human Rights Day is observed every year on the 10th of December and it celebrates the day the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, abbreviated as the UDHR, in 1948.   The UDHR is a document that establishes the inalienable rights to every human being - regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

While the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities promotes further protecting the rights of children with disabilities, there are still too many cases in developing countries where they are denied their Human Rights because of their disability, whether it’s their right to life, right to healthcare, or right to dignity.

I created Project Lolo because I am a person with a disability, or what I call “differing ability”. I have human rights.  Yet, my rights as a human have not been violated because of what makes me different.  This is the cornerstone of Project Lolo’s mission to provide access to orthopedic care or devices to children because I know, first-hand, what it’s like to be a child with a differing ability.  And I know, that my rights as a human are no greater, nor more privileged, than a child in Ghana, Guatemala, or anywhere. 

Thus, on this Human Rights Day, join me in celebrating these three amazingly resilient children by seeing them all for their strength as humans. May we come together and Stand Up For Rights.

Photo Credit: Gregory Pitt - taken on a Project Lolo trip to Ghana