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May 15, 2007
Costa Rican vs. Japanese society: from a wheelchair user perspective.
Andrea Vargas Carmiol
(Leadership Development Course 2006)
I could not describe how wonderful was my experience in Japan. As a wheel chair user, I can say that Japanese people with disabilities have a very different quality of life from Costa Ricans. In the two months I stayed in Tokyo, I could go anywhere just by using the subways. In every station there were elevators, and different devices to get wheelchair users up and down. Every subway company has portable ramps, and they put them in the train when a person requests it. On the contrary, wheelchair users in Costa Rica cannot yet use an effective public transportation. Therefore, we are forced to use a taxi to go from one place to another. This situation limits our possibilities of recreation because taxis are extremely expensive. In Japan, there were accessible toilets and ramps everywhere. The concept of “Universal Design” (devices designed to be used for all people in society) is well-known and promoted; there were Braille language in all the places, talking devices and sign language when it was needed. In our country, we hardly find elevators and ramps in the buildings or even worse ramps are dangerous and elevators are not working. In general terms, Japanese people with disabilities have access to a good welfare; for instance, if they can not work because of their kind of disability, they receive two pensions; one from the municipality and another one from the national government which permits them to cover their basic needs. This social welfare includes also the payment of structural modifications in their homes, the cost of technical devices such as wheelchair batteries, chargers, crashes, etc. Regarding the welfare, the most outstanding advantage that I found there is that people with disabilities in Japan are paid their personal assistant. They have the right to get 24 hours of assistance for free if they need it. Each personal assistant has rights and responsibilities as any other worker. For a person with disabilities, having a personal assistant means his or her independence and participation in the community. On the other hand, people with disabilities in Costa Rica are still considered not capable beings for the society. In most of the cases, we are forced to live with our parents all the life because of the lack of real chances to be independent. The lack of job opportunities, accessible public transportation, and a friendly environment are strong limitations for Costa Rican people with disabilities to develop in our community. I conclude for what I found in Japan, that people with disabilities can change stereotypes if we demand our rights and work together to get them.
Posted by jicafriends at May 15, 2007 12:39 PM