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Sports, music, panel discussions and social events are all part of the calendar for the Month of the Disabled this year.

The activities, aimed at highlighting the skills and talents of persons with disabilities, are being held under the umbrella of the Barbados Council for the Disabled, in collaboration with the National Disabilities Unit.

Slated for Friday, March 6, is a road tennis competition at the Learning Centre, Orange Hill, St. James, beginning at 9:30 a.m.  Other sporting events at the Learning Centre will be a table tennis competition on Wednesday, March 11, a badminton competition on Thursday, March 12, and track and field events on Thursday, March 19, and Friday, March 20, all beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Horseback riding takes place at Staple Grove, Christ Church, on Tuesday, March 10, at 11:00 a.m. and on Friday, March 13, there will be a sponsored walk starting at the Learning Centre at 9:30 a.m. and ending at Folkestone Park and Marine Reserve, St. James.

On Saturday, March 14, there will be a picnic at River Bay, St. Lucy, hosted by the Special Envoy for Persons with Disabilities, Roslyn Hurley, to which all are invited. In the evening, starting at 5:30, the Barbados Organization of Parents of the Disabled will host a panel discussion on Communication and Disability at the Centre for the Blind and Deaf, Beckles Road, St. Michael.

And on Thursday, March 19, there will be an Entrepreneurship Market, featuring a sale of products created by members of the disabled community at Granny’s Carpark, Oistins, Christ Church, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Barbados Horizon Deaf Charity will stage an expo exhibiting the craft of the hearing-impaired community at Norman Centre, Broad Street, from Monday, March 23, to Saturday, March 28, from 9:00 a.m. each day.

And on Saturday, March 28, everyone is invited to participate in an event dubbed Walk a Mile in My Shoes, which will give persons the opportunity to experience what it is like to be disabled, by engaging in activities such as navigating a wheelchair or walking blindfolded with a cane.

This activity, which is coordinated by the Barbados National Organization of the Disabled (BARNOD), with the assistance of the Barbados Defence Force, will move off from the Clock Tower, Garrison, St. Michael, at 6:00 a.m. Persons interested in participating may register and collect T-shirts from booths set up on Saturdays at Sheraton Mall, Christ Church; Cave Shepherd, Broad Street; and Sky Mall, Haggatt Hall.

Also on March 28 will be the Taste My Hand competition, which will see members of the disabled community preparing culinary delights to be judged by chefs from PomMarine Hospitality Institute. The categories for judging will be sweet, savoury, beverage and 100 per cent Bajan. The competition takes place at the headquarters of the Barbados Council for the Disabled, Harambee House, Garrison, St. Michael, from 4:00 p.m.

On Sunday, March 29, the Shine Like a Diamond pageant comes off at Sandals Barbados, St. Lawrence Gap, at 7:00 p.m. Activities climax on Tuesday, March 31, with an in-studio live broadcast on UWI TV, Cave Hill Campus, on the topic Violence Does Not Discriminate: The Impact of Violence on a Vulnerable Community at 11:00 a.m

Panellists will be National Human Rights Advisor, United Nations Office, Barbados, Michelle Brathwaite; President of the Barbados Council for the Disabled, Kerryann Ifill; Eudalie Wickham-Ashby of BARNOD and a representative of the Royal Barbados Police Force.

Click here to view the schedule of events for Month of the Disabled.

joy.springer@barbados.gov.bb

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