Disability and Mobile Citizenship in Postsocialist Ukraine

3. Disability Rights and Disability Wrongs

Disability Rights and Disability Wrongs 97 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 I would say that the disability rights movement (invalidnyi rukh) began in the USSR under Gorbachev, in 1988 or ’89, when democratic processes were introduced and it became possible to form civic organizations. . . . And here in Ukraine, the movement likewise started in L’viv in 1989. The disability rights movement originated from athletics. . . . I personally got involved because I wanted an active lifestyle. I started participating in the sports competitions (spartakiady). . . . In 1990 I went to Moscow for an international auto race for people with disabilities. And that’s where for the first time I met people from Germany, Czechoslovakia, and other countries, and from them I learned that in those states invalids live a completely different life. They are able to live an active life, because they have an accessible environment. It turned out that a worldwide movement for the rights of invalids had existed for ten years, and in the Soviet Union we hadn’t heard anything and knew nothing about it. This was all new information for me. Later in 1991 I was invited to my first active rehabilitation [AR] camp. It was still the USSR. That’s when I first met Rekryteringsgruppen [RG] from Sweden, and that’s when my active role in this movement started. . . . Really, my goal was not to form an organization ; I felt the need to invite RG to Ukraine so they could show lots of our [wheelchair users] how to live an active life. And to do this we needed some kind of legal entity—an organization. And that’s how in 1991 in L’viv we founded the NGO that is still called Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Invalids. And I was elected head of the organization . . . . —Yaroslav Hrybalskyy, rights activist and people’s deputy of L’viv regional Parliament, L’viv, Ukraine 3. Disability Rights and Disability Wrongs 98 disability and mobile citizenship in postsocialist ukraine It’s true that the Swedes gave a push toward the development of active wheelchairs. There was a wheelchair user [in Russia], Dmitrii Seniukov. . . . He was an artist and sold his wares in Russia, and Ukraine—back then it was still the Soviet Union. Somehow he decided to go to Sweden, and there he learned about the [active rehabilitation] movement, got to know that rehabilitation group [RG] and as a result he organized the production of active wheelchairs and training camps for active living. It developed parallel in Russia and Ukraine, simultaneously and in the exact same way. He [Seniukov] was probably first, because he showed up in his [active] wheelchair in [the sanatorium at] Saki, which was in Ukraine—this was after Ukrainian independence. And there he met a group from L’viv, who also got involved. —Lev Indolev, journalist and activist, Moscow, Russia I kept getting frustrated because in a wheelchair I could not access a lot of places in our town. And I really started working on these [accessibility ] issues after our trip to Canada. Accessibility is really advanced in Canada—wherever a healthy person can go, anyone using a wheelchair can, too. So I started approaching the business owners in our town about the lack of accessibility. . . . I brought photographs from Canada of accessible architecture to show them. I told them: “See, this exists over there” (Ot v krayinakh ie). . . . In Canada . . . why do I always mention Canada ? Because it’s a good example. They don’t have [separate] homes for invalids, or toilets for invalids, or shops for invalids—everything is just for people (tam dlia liudei vse). For example, I was there for two weeks, and I could go into any place I wanted. I could use the same toilet as other people—there was just a stall that was a bit wider with a few modifications . I go in, I come out, and I don’t feel like I’m a peculiar person (osoblyva liudyna). . . . In 1999 I happened upon an active rehabilitation camp that Hrybalskyy was hosting in L’viv. And after those ten days I came back home with a completely different outlook on disability (nepovnospravnist’) and everything else. The camps give you a really huge jolt (poshtovkh). After the camp you just can’t stand...