A Resounding Success
My U.S. Department of State-sponsored International Visitor Leadership program to the United States came about as a surprise. Members of the American Consulate in Cape Town, South Africa, contacted me about my work with a program for people with disabilities after seeing it mentioned in a local newspaper article.
As a person with cerebral palsy, the U.S. trip opened my eyes to the many challenges that the U.S. disability community has addressed and to the challenges that we in South Africa will face as we move forward in improving the situation for our own people with disabilities.
Each stop on my itinerary provided me with unique and valuable information. Washington, DC gave me an understanding of the federal system, while Minnesota highlighted the state system. California filled me in on roots of the disability rights movement. And New York was a showcase for the enormous facilities providing services to people with disabilities.
The insights into the state and national legislative structures within the United States allowed me to make a comparative analysis between the U.S. and South African systems and to assess their relative impacts on disability issues. The South African system needs to undergo a metamorphosis to achieve what the U.S. system has done. The heartening fact about the South African system is the tightly knit, cohesive disability fraternity. Our government structure allows for a top-down approach that encourages cooperation, thus making that eventual metamorphosis likely. The United States’ federalism, by its very nature, seems to result in separateness. U.S. disability organizations at state and federal levels do not always communicate effectively, resulting in a less than efficient use of resources and not enough information sharing.
I took a keen interest in a presentation at the U.S. Department of Labor about the numerous disability programs it operates. The focus on helping people with disabilities enter the workforce especially impressed me – incentives for both employees and employers offer a strong motivating influence. As one person, I may not be able to influence the South African Department of Labour to implement such far-reaching programs. However, I now have ideas for developing and implementing programs at a local level that can be used as models for regional and hopefully national implementation.
The challenges we face at home include accessibility, skills development, lobbying for the rights of people with disabilities and economic empowerment through employment, sports, recreation, the arts and culture. The United States has an enormous wealth of information and progress to share. My luggage was overweight with literature when I returned home. In an effort to make the most of all this information, I am targeting aspects pertinent to my specific field: the economic empowerment of people with disabilities through job creation and small and medium enterprise development.
The contacts and linkages I made will result in invaluable dialogue and networking across the Atlantic. In addition, after I returned home, the American Consulate offered to facilitate video conferencing and assistance in developing further linkages between our two countries.
Because I had not planned or expected a trip to the United States, I went without formal goals or expectations. I felt like a sponge, ready to absorb whatever information came my way.
The home hospitality experience also dispelled some myths about American society for me. I think Hollywood does an injustice to American society by often focusing on its dysfunctional side. My homestay, which was with a man named Tom and his family, was very warm and homey. Tom’s wife is a person with a disability, and I picked up a lot of tips about making home life easier.
The organization of the trip was outstanding, the itinerary well planned, traveling smooth and accommodations quite suitable. In addition, an essential part of my successful trip included George Nassif, the English Language Officer, who traveled with me. His guidance, advice, understanding, wisdom and assistance were tremendous and appreciated.
Although understanding and respecting diversity is a way of life for me in South Africa, I got a lesson in diversity in California, which gave me a sense of many nations all in one location. The impressive diversity in San Francisco added to the extensive exposure I got to disability rights from the various organizations there, and I was interested to see the global perspective in their work.
It is impossible for one person to assimilate such a wealth of information or to implement it all in South Africa. But the trip gave me some overall insights about how to affect change directly in the areas of my immediate interest and how, through a process of participation, I can share information in other areas of interest. My visit to the United States was not my first, and definitely will not be my last, as I plan to return with more specific goals and objectives.
Through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) foreign leaders in government, public policy, media, education, labor, the arts and other key fields travel to the United States to meet and confer with their professional counterparts.
