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Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Bangladesh // photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance
The Hidden Cost of An Ongoing War9/23/2024 caring for people with disabilities in regions in crisis When the war reached their front yard in 2022, Liudmila and her son had to flee their home in Bakmut. Liudmila recalled her beloved small town in eastern Ukraine, a place filled with roses, and numerous schools for the town’s children. “The best city on Earth. That’s how the local people often called it,” she said. In May 2023, President Zelenskyy said, “Bakmut is only in our hearts. There is nothing left in this place.” Luidmila’s adult son, Dmytro (38), is one of 261,000 people with intellectual disabilities living in Ukraine. National health and governmental organizations estimate some 2.7million people there live with at least one, and often multiple, disabilities. Humanitarian organizations and advocates consistently note that it is the sick, elderly, and disabled – those who are already challenged to get information and receive equal and adequate care – who are disproportionately affected by war and natural disaster. L’Arche – an international organization dedicated to the community and thriving of people with disabilities – sees that heightened need all too clearly and works with partners like Week of Compassion to care for this often forgotten and frequently overlooked community. “People with disabilities bear the brunt, the cost of war – they are the human toll.” Rev. Matt Hackworth, Director of Development & Communications for L’Arche USA, notes that the historical solution in many countries was to use institutions as the primary source of care for people with disabilities. While the western world has (mostly) stepped away from that model, it is still very much in place in post-Soviet nations. When war arrived in Ukraine, and families were forced to flee, those who had a family member with disabilities were often forced to abandon them to institutions in hopes they would be sheltered and cared for, and avoid the already difficult journey to another location. Families did not know what else to do. Rev. Hackworth says, “In a very practical sense, it is exceedingly and increasingly difficult in a crisis to find people who will care for those with disabilities. This is where Week of Compassion’s support makes a great difference. We have been able to ensure quality accompanying care [at the L’Arche “workshops”, the day centers and program hubs] for people with disabilities. We can provide an ‘enhanced wage’ for caregivers, which brings them up to a living wage but also provides a bit of incentive wage, making pay competitive with other similar caregiving jobs. That means that the clients who come to our workshops get adequate care, accompaniment, and friendship, at a time when everybody is unsettled.”
“The big success of L’Arche is that the fabric of community remains, no matter how many bombs are thrown,” Rev. Hackworth explains. “Keeping the workshops open has been a tremendous source of peace for the people we care for and their families. Being together when the air raid sirens go off, so they don’t have to decide ‘Should I go to the shelter? Is my son/daughter/parent going to be safe when the sounds, the crowd, the dark send them into a meltdown?’ In an open public shelter it might not be as ok, might give you a second thought, make you hesitate: ‘Is today the day? Should we go? Will they be harassed? Will they fall apart?’ In a L’Arche context, you’re in a safe place where that’s going to be okay.” He also reminds us, “The role of faith communities and faith based emergency response, relief, and development work is to perpetually reach for the most marginalized. Broad based programs are going to achieve scale – x amount of dollars can help x number of people. That methodology translates well for governments and donors. But it also leaves a lot of people out. Faith communities have a moral imperative to reach for the margin.” The mission of Week of Compassion – to work with partners to alleviate suffering throughout the world – means intentionally looking for opportunities and partnerships that serve the unmet needs in vulnerable communities. As Rev. Hackworth concluded, “When we tell others where the margin is, when we exemplify standing in presence and accompanying those on the margins, that is when we’re really following the way of Jesus Christ.” With gratitude to Rev. Matt Hackworth for the recent conversation, and the story of Liudmila and Dmytro. Photos by Gregg Brekke Comments are closed.
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