Fashion Chance! In the Ukraine, they showcased models that are blind and are wheelchair users. Why is this news? Because in a country where the disabled are not given the accessible freedoms such here in the US or other accessible countries, it was a stride to bring more awareness of the physically challenged and shed them in a different and attractive light!
“At the Wednesday night event dubbed Fashion Chance a dozen designers mostly from Ukraine presented outfits for physically handicapped women, in a bid to bring attention and dignity to some of Ukraine’s most marginalized citizens.”
“Some models moved confidently down the runway — on wheel chairs, or accompanied by handsome young men in elegant suits — flashing smiles and some attempting to mimic the traditional model gait. One blind model coquettishly held her hand on her hip and played with a lock of hair.”
“Moved by the show, some in the audience cried. ”God made the woman beautiful and the designer’s goal is to stress that beauty,” said Natalia Anri, a top Ukrainian designer.”
“But it wasn’t just about clothes.”
“Ukraine’s physically handicapped people are barely visible to the country at large, confined to their homes in the absence of ramps, elevators and specially equipped buses and mostly shunned by society in a grim legacy of the Soviet era
Children with disabilities are usually hidden away in specialized schools or orphanages, where they are deprived of a chance to interact with other children and society as a whole does not learn to co-exist, accept and help those with disabilities. Only a handful of public schools accept disabled children, because building entrances, canteens and toilets are not equipped with ramps, teachers lack the necessary training and other students and often their parents often object to having such classmates.”
What a great step in the right direction for Ukraine!
Reading and looking into more of the conditions of how people with disabilities are living in the Ukraine, makes my heart heavy. Also, makes me want to slap the next person who get’s upset over something as trivial as handicap parking. Accessibility in the Ukraine is close to ZERO and we should be thankful.
Read the full “washington post” article HERE
(image sources = various found on web)
