Disabilities in Ecuador

“The most important thing is to raise public awareness that people with disabilities can effectively integrate into daily life.” Luis Vicente González told this to a World Bank reporter on the subject of equality in Ecuador. This article from the World Bank Group website is about equal rights to those individuals suffering from physical disabilities in Ecuador. The article talks about how, despite of Ecuadorean law that says 4% of all employed workers should be disabled, these individuals are still getting discriminated against.

Living in America we just assume that equal rights is not a problem. To most it isn’t, but to a number of employers it’s as if they look down on the handicapped as if they can not do any job as well as a person without a handicap could. This is an absurd way of thinking because many people with these handicaps can do the same job just as well as anyone else and sometimes even better.  After a person stops and thinks about the problems with discrimination we have in America, “The Land of the Free,” it makes one wonder what discrimination is like in a developing country such as Ecuador.

One part of this article that jumped out at me as important was a particular paragraph talking about equal rights in schools and in the education system. The article points out that the World Bank has taken some major steps towards making sure all children get an honest chance at a good education regardless of any disabilities they may have. It was alarming to me that, in Ecuador, it is not uncommon for children to be held from school because of a physical or mental handicap they suffer from.  This is something that, as Americans, we take for granted sometimes because we have federal programs that allow for special treatment and teacher’s aids to help with special needs children.

Even a person unfamiliar with American history knows that equal rights has been a battle for minorities for many years, not just because of race, but because of physical and mental handicaps as well. The World Bank Group understands that in developing countries, such as Ecuador, these issues are present even more so than in established countries because of the lack of social awareness. Though this is a touchy issue for some and one that many lose sleep about, it’s good to know that there are people like Luis Vicente González and organizations like the World Bank that understand these issues and set out to educate the public and ultimately help with the problem.

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Tate DeMeulenaere