Echoes of Empowerment through TRANSFORM Training
The Journey of a Social Worker Advisor with Disability
Today's story comes from Jamila, a Social Worker Advisor from Menzel Temime, in Nabeul’s governorate, who participated in the March 2024 session of the TRANSFORM training in Tunisia. Her 21-year career in Tunisia's Social Protection sector has deepened her commitment to being a voice for the voiceless. Despite her own physical disability, Jamila discovered her ability to empower, uplift, and advocate for children with disabilities in her community.
According to the most recent statistics from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the governorate of Nabeul has 404 cases of children with disabilities aged between 6 and 18 years old. Menzel Temime, where Jamila lives and works, has the highest rate of children with disabilities among Nabeul’s local communities.
DIFFICULTIES IN ACCESSING EDUCATION
Jamila had started medical treatment at the age of 3 and had to go through school interruptions several times, a common plight faced by many children with disabilities. "At the age of 13, when I was in the last grade of primary school, I had surgery on my legs, followed by an intensive four-month treatment at Al Kassab hospital in Tunis", she revealed. Jamila’s experience sheds light on the harsh reality children with disabilities often face to access education, particularly when their conditions require special care. "Families, constrained by limited economic means, often prioritize their children’s medical treatment at the expense of education", she explained. Jamila herself was about to drop out of school, until her doctor discovered that she was one of the few children with a disability he was treating who could read. He insisted that she joins an association for minors with organic movement disorders, which was located next to the hospital and provided education for children in similar circumstances to Jamila.
Strong determination made her follow a strict schedule of morning classes and afternoon treatments. Despite the challenges she faced, she was resilient and persevered, ultimately succeeding in pursuing her high school and university education—a milestone often deemed unattainable for children with disabilities, particularly those from vulnerable backgrounds.
SOCIAL PROTECTION AS A DRIVER FOR CHANGE
"My father believed in me despite the challenges we faced," she reflected. "His encouragement and sacrifices fuelled my determination to stand up for the rights of others, the way he stood up for me."
Despite being dependent on her family, like many children with disabilities, Jamila's perseverance to pursue her education and reach independence remained unwavering. Jamila fondly recounts her parents’ unlimited support, despite their illiteracy and unstable income. When she lost her parents and brother, she became more aware that social protection is essential to provide lifelong support for people in vulnerable situations. She therefore decided to commit herself to it as a professional mission. "Losing my parents and my older brother was a turning point in my life. It compelled me to stand up for myself and advocate for those facing similar struggles and who often have no voice", Jamila stated.
Since deciding to work in the field of social protection, Jamila has been able to influence the lives of those in need. This was the case in Garsouline, a small village in the community of Menzel Temime known for its high incidence of people with disabilities. Here she came across one of the most challenging cases she witnessed during her 21-year career. "Two children, a boy and a girl, with severe mental disabilities were discovered in extremely unfavourable conditions," she explained. Their existence had been hidden from the neighbours by their mother, depriving them of access to disability cards and social security benefits, including free healthcare.
Similar cases might still exist, and families often don’t know how to deal with the challenges of raising a child with a disability, especially with autism. In this regard, social workers across the country are doing their best to raise awareness and alleviate the difficulties faced by children with disabilities and their families.
Jamila's personal experience with disability gives her a unique perspective, helps her relate with families in similar situations, and enables her to act as a role model.
"As a Social Worker Advisor with a disability, I find that parents of children with disabilities feel more comfortable sharing their experiences and challenges with me", she said
This exceptional relationship and trust enable Jamila to swiftly intervene in cases of dire need, facilitating, for instance, the enrolment of the two children from Garsouline in social protection programmes and securing them with access to essential benefits such as disability cards and access to free healthcare.
EMPOWERING CHANGE THROUGH TRANSFORM TRAINING
Jamila was among the 25 social workers who took part in the TRANSFORM training session in March. Attracted by its agenda and goals, she eagerly joined TRANSFORM, an innovative training programme dedicated to the management of national social protection systems. Its main objective is to develop critical thinking and skills of decision-makers and practitioners at national and decentralized levels to improve the design, efficiency, and effectiveness of social protection systems. The TRANSFORM training has been rolled out in Tunisia since 2021, with over 125 social workers from across the country's governorates having participated in sessions to date.
"For me, TRANSFORM has set the stage for enhancing my efficiency in fulfilling tasks and duties promptly." Jamila shared
She emphasized the importance of establishing a unified and integrated administrative ecosystem at the local level, a goal she is committed to pursuing with perseverance. "I want to make more efforts to promote this approach among my colleagues," she asserted.
Furthermore, Jamila highlighted how TRANSFORM helped her refresh and deepen her understanding of key social protection concepts. "The session’s innovative and interactive learning methodology facilitated a comprehensive exploration of these concepts," she concluded.
AMBITION & CALL FOR ACTION
Jamila stressed her determination to continue supporting people with disabilities:
"I wish for every person with a disability to have the required support to achieve independence and equal access to public services."
Recognizing the existing gaps of infrastructures in Menzel Temime, Jamila envisions a future where institutions and centres providing services to people with disabilities thrive. She dreams of a community where public facilities, such as accessible sanitation in schools, hospitals, and other public institutions, are available. She also wants to see every person with disability benefiting from lifelong social protection programmes, including the financial benefits provided by the Tunisian government. Additionally, she emphasized the urgency for improved public transportation to accommodate the needs of individuals with disabilities, which is, according to her, one of the major factors contributing to the illiteracy, inactivity and lack of inclusion of many children with disability living in rural areas.
Moreover, Jamila underlines the importance of implementing programmes aimed at bolstering the self-confidence of individuals with disabilities, empowering them to overcome the challenges they face, such as bullying, and enhancing their skills for inclusion in the labour market. She stresses the importance of youth centres and suggests regular coaching and motivational workshops there to build the capacities of individuals and of children with disabilities.
She also highlights the need of conducting comprehensive national research to gain insights into the current situation, gaps, and prospects for children and people with disabilities in Tunisia. It is imperative to have more investment in research to address the multidimensional challenges faced by this group of citizens. For this cause, she is committed to investing her time and energy, advocating for change in decision-making circles through her position as a recently elected local representative for people with disability in the 2023 local elections.
