Having special needs, but not having the rights and opportunities. Part 1

People with special needs residing in the Donetsk region are in need of protection and assistance from the state. Every day, those people face a number of obstacles before to get out of the yard of their houses. How a person in a wheelchair could go down the riser of a high-rise apartment building where special elevator is not operational? How to get out the exit from the house where there is no a ramp? How to get to the doctor's office which is located above the first floor in the building where there are no specially equipped stairs also?  And there are a lot of such outstanding issues in cities of the region.

The director of Donbas interregional center for vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities Svetlana Fomina told us that before the beginning of hostilities, there were 300 thousand people with disabilities in the region. "It was the region with the largest number of injuries throughout Ukraine because there were a lot of mines, and factories with dangerous production," - said Fomina. According to her, the building of the executive committee in the town of Slavyansk at present remains inaccessible to such people.

Also she said that the special bus does not always work out in the route in the town of Slavyansk.

"The Accessibility Committee constantly addresses to carriers to use low-floor buses in routes. Our carriers have buses with lifts adapted for people with disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Unfortunately, they do not always go the route. A lift itself is very expensive. If it is of a high quality and imported, it costs up to 200 thousand hryvnias, "- said Fomina.
Residents of Slavyansk faced with the problem of disability say they do not feel care from the state.

Olga who has cerebral palsy and now undergoes treatment at the center of rehabilitation of the disabled refers to medicine as "severe".

"In Luhansk region I strived for receiving of a powered wheelchair as I am sick of an infantile cerebral paralysis. They have told me, "Do you want to go to Svatovo, there we have a nuthouse". I said "no". Then they said, "Shut up and go away from here, '" - Olga told.

"In Kramatorsk there are some hospitals where it's convenient to enter. And in Kostiantynivka there's no one hospital with accessible entrance for disabled people, "- said Mikhail, a patient of the rehabilitation center for disabled people. 

However, in Kostiantynivka there are disabled people who are ready to help the same as they are. Lyudmila Kozhushko "chained" to a wheelchair for more than 25 years and helps other people with special needs during the same time. The woman lives according to the principle " sink or swim". Thanks to her efforts there is a ramp and additional devices for people with disabilities in the apartment building where the woman lives. 
"I deal with problems of disabled people for 20 years. Behind the scenes, but I help to solve all the questions". 

"I would have gone to my girlfriend on the other side of town with pleasure. But I cannot. We live in the same town and do not see each other. Talking on the phone, "- says the woman.

According to the deputy mayor of the city Kostiantynivka Victor Vasilenko, at the moment there is no real actuators to effect on the owners of various urban facilities that according to the state program should equip buildings and premises. While city officials could write prescriptions with the help of the prosecution authorities. 

Please follow the link to read the 2nd part of the story

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