Friday, 17th of May, at 10:30 am at Weyler Square. This is the day and place chosen by Queremos Movernos, the collective advocating for people with disabilities in Tenerife, to flood the streets of Santa Cruz with a new orange wave. The fourth walk for Equality, expected to be attended by over 1,500 people, will traverse the city centre from Castillo to the Cabildo Square where a manifesto will be read. Why is a march needed to make visible the daily reality of 120,000 residents of Tenerife? For many reasons, although the collective argues five main motives.
Abundant Motives
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Ana Mengíbar, spokesperson and driving force, outlines these arguments to take to the streets on the 17th. Firstly, because “90% of the playgrounds on the island do not have adapted modules where all children can play.” Also, “sometimes, educational centres cannot attend cultural events because they have children with disabilities and the places or shows are not accessible.” Another motivating factor is that “municipalities on the island continue to organise Christmas workshops or summer camps that children with disabilities cannot register for.” Additionally, Mengíbar adds, “in almost all municipalities, there is no sports offer for children with disabilities.” She points out that “they justify it with the mantra of subsidising clubs, but what if you live in a place where there are no adapted sports clubs?”. Finally, “many children with disabilities cannot enjoy the beaches because they do not have bathing assistance services and because they are not adapted.”
Communication Barriers
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Added to this is the fact that deaf students “continue to suffer communication barriers” because “they do not have interpreters throughout the school day” and this lack of attention “is mistreatment” since “this disadvantage prevents them from achieving academic objectives.” Mengíbar insists that “they are children with the same rights and must be respected because reasonable adjustments, as mentioned in the law, must be made for them to have the same opportunities.”
Support for Families
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Organisers warn that the inclusion of these children “will not be possible without real support for families with children and teenagers with disabilities, now almost left to their own devices, to be the main instance of promotion, protection and active accompaniment of their offspring with disabilities.” In their manifesto, they demand the inclusion of children with disabilities from the early stages of life or from the moment the disability appears, with it being the duty of public authorities to create all kinds of conditions – legislative, programmatic, budgetary, etc. – so that this reinforced attention “is a reality in all spheres of community life,” being the duty of public administrations, whether national, regional or local, to generate equality. opportunities”.
For all these reasons, “for their right to education trampled on,” educational communities in schools and high schools, as well as the general population of Tenerife, are called upon to unite their voices on the 17th of May in the fourth walk for equality. With the orange colour, symbolising disability and equality. A bright and bold color used to show determination to make a mark. With a strong and memorable impact on the vast sector of non-profit organisations, and which is also accessible to people with visual impairments. The cry of people with special abilities must be heard by public administrations to, as the organisers stress, “provide a sustained, sufficient and effective response to all these demands.”
