The program provides its services from within the Bishopric of public and social services at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, under the patronage of His Holiness, Pope Tawadros II, and His partner in the apostolic service, H.G. Bishop Yolios, General Bishop of Old Cairo and BLESS
This is achieved through a group of qualified and trained people in the field of work with people with disabilities, as well as, specialists in the various fields that a person with disabilities needs to be trained on such as (communication, skill development, behavior management, sensory development, various services of prosthetic devices, trainings for parents and people working in the field of disability and physiotherapy and training for adults or vocational rehabilitation and employment in the community). The program, also, provides counselling sessions for the family and it works on empowering families and forming groups of supportive families.
The program deals with the types of problems that cause disabilities for children or adults by raising awareness for families and society, spreading the concepts of rights and duties, advocating and supporting disability issues, developing solutions, and introducing the country’s laws in providing support to people with disabilities, explain laws and inclusive services that it offers that facilitate their lives and helps them integrate into society. This is accomplished through a work system supported by the Bishopric of Public and Social services to ensure the continuity of service provision at a high level of efficiency and at a nominal cost appropriate to the economic level of the family, especially families who are unable to provide these services to their children. Also, it works on providing the service to all Egyptians and to everyone who needs this service which promises providing this service to the largest possible number of children or adults with disabilities. All this is undertaken to be able to enter the world of the disabled child and help him reach the best level of progress and enable him to regain his ability to perform the tasks entrusted to him whether self care or his independence or his role in society. It is necessary to understand the nature of his position among the closest people to him, and to determine the identity of that group to which he belongs. He should get to know his culture, its customs, and its traditions. It is necessary to undertake case studies of the family, understanding their needs, areas of strength and weakness, coexisting with their problems, helping them find solutions, and looking at their biological and psychological formations. This helps in evaluating the extent and level of intervention with them and the expected reactions and the possibility of making changes in some expectations or behaviors that could change the acceptance of the disabled child within his family
The Stand Up and Walk program is concerned with the participation of the family and activating its role. It works on enabling the family to deal with their son’s case with correct knowledge and information to overcome all obstacles to facilitate his integration into society. The program works on having a leading role in placing the issues of children with special abilities in the priorities of the issues that the country cares about through seminars, symposiums and the events that focus on our role as supportive and motivating parties. These events take place in a joint presence with the decision makers and those in charge of the program, led by Father Raphael Tharwat, the technical support of the program, representing the Bishopric and a number of the program’s employees.
It was achieved, also, by inviting the member of parliament Dr. Hend Hazem and respected consultants at Ministry of Social Solidarity represented by Dr. Mohamed Helmy, the disability consultant in the ministry as a lecturer, and Professor Hanan Nicholas, the former disability consultant in the ministry and the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sophia Foundation for People with Disabilities, as a lecturer, and a group of people with disability cases and directors of some associations in the civil society. They were all invited to attend a seminar on (advocacy for people with special needs between rights and duties)
This is to take a step in the dialogue with the community, answering the questions of those interested in the case, and presenting new information that contributes to providing knowledge and how people with disabilities obtain their rights.
The participation of the Egyptian Church in the national issues that concern all Egyptians, especially the issue of people with disabilities, and the services it provides through its various programs, especially the Stand Up and Walk program for people with disabilities, which touches the needs of all citizens, especially people with disabilities, is an invitation to build a cohesive society and a developmental thinking that contributes to the integration of people with disabilities in society
Bassem George Ayad
Stand up and Walk center
for people with special needs
