LEADERSHIP and participation are the themes of this year's International Day of People with Disability on December 3 and Newcastle's Jeanpaul Ntazika Kagigi is out in front on both.
Mr Kagigi is a community engagement officer with the Global Alliance for Peace through which he supports West African youth, promoting educational pathways and educating them on immunisation and health strategies, helping to ensure their access to health care.
He speaks five languages and is learning English while working to expand the reach and impact of the alliance to help change the lives of hundreds of refugees. He is also a father of four and lives with lower limb deficiencies.
His journey to Australia is a long story, he says, which began in 1998 in a small village where he was locked down in a church for weeks by Congo government soldiers before escaping to Rwanda and then Kenya, before settling into Newcastle where he has landed what he describes as his dream job.
"My employer, Jerome Rugaruza from Global Alliance Peace told me that disability is not inability, you can still do something despite your language barrier and physical problems," Mr Kagigi said.
His achievements vary from broad-brush community support, to more individualised initiatives, including the creation of an online support group.
"One community members is having a wedding this January so I contributed to bring friends and family to support her," he said. So far the group has raised $5,000 towards the $10,000 needed.
"What I like most about my role ... is to not just identify and prioritise what need the community have but also suggest or bring solutions to those issues affecting them."
The CEO of Job Centre Australia, Deborrah Lambourne, which has supported Mr Kagigi's work placement, said Mr Kagigi's story highlights the value people living with disability bring to their communities. "This is also an opportunity to celebrate the employers we work with who understand and see the value of employing people with a disability," she said.
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