KAMPALA – Disability is not embraced by everyone as a norm in society since most people fail to see the ability of disabled persons. Hence, they stigmatize those physically disadvantaged.
Besides, some stereotypes believe that disability is a curse from God. To change the narrative, Robert Kateera, a Ugandan, decided to support children with no limbs. This followed his experience while taking care of his cousin, born without the right limb.
Kateera says that having a relative with no limb three years ago was hard for him. People would stigmatise him telling him all sorts of nasty things but through it all, he managed to be strong.
He would eventually start The Trudeau Foundation to support limbless children.
Who is Kateera?
Robert Kateera is the Executive Director of Trudeau Youth Foundation Uganda. He is the pioneer of this organization which aims at supporting children with no limbs. Through the foundation, he helps these children access artificial limbs called prosthetics. Through them, these children can act normally and interact freely with other children.
Trudeau Youth foundation gets support from the government, private sector, and the health sector in Uganda. Kateera is keen on speaking about issues to do with disability. He says that it is neither the health sector’s fault nor the government’s, that the disabled persons are not well cared for.
“It is each and everyone’s responsibility to care for them even in little ways that at the end of the day count a lot. For proof that people with humanity exist,” he explains.
How Kateera helps amputees
When a limb experiences problems or when one is born with such a deformity, amputation must be done. This is what happened to Robert Kateera’s cousin at birth.
“She lacked a tibia and a knee cap, so this meant something had to be done. This is when our family had to accept the situation to work tirelessly and find a remedy,” he recalls.
Getting their relative an artificial limb is the best thing they ever did. It was also the start of something new. Since prosthetics are very expensive, it is very hard for many people to afford.
“Trudeau Youth Foundation, through the support from well-wishers, provides the children with the limbs.”
In his campaigns on amputation, Kateera tries his best to create awareness of this condition. He teaches people that instead of discriminating amputees, they ought to support them.
Impacting
Recently, he held a campaign mobilizing people to contribute Shs5000 for this course. He believes that with these resources pulled together, providing the artificial limbs for all becomes easy.
Additionally, Kateera hopes the program is all-inclusive. Thus, disabled children from all walks of life can be connected to this foundation for help.
He advises you to link up that child in your area that has no limbs. In doing so, they can get hope and regain their lives.
“Sourcing the prosthetics is not easy at all. The biggest source is a company in Canada. The Trudeau Youth Foundation needs more investment for this. However, there are start-up companies that have sprouted throughout the world,” he says.
According to Kateera, disability in the limbs has become a common problem that needs to be addressed immediately so that efforts are made to provide solutions to the deformity.
