Back in 2009 I was approached by a young disabled man living in war torn Afghanistan asking me if I could produce some cartoons to highlight the dire circumstances in which they were living. This cartoon was one of several that I created for him and which he used to good effect to attract international attention to the plight of disabled people in his country.
I’ve recently sent out some feelers to our disabled brothers and sister in the Ukraine and am still waiting for a response. Quite a lot of their infrastructure has been hit and things that we take for granted being able to do, such as texting and emailing are no longer an option for many of them.
The Ukrainian government were only just starting to make inroads into improving access for disabled people and it goes without saying that this is now going to be low down on their list of priorities. Although with the use of illegal cluster munitions being used by the Russian forces, many more Ukrainians will now be joining our ranks, including many children, as a result of the carnage that these weapons inflict upon them.
I’ll let you know when I hear back from my contacts over there especially with regard to anything we can do to help them get through this nightmare. In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with them.
Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software
The scene is a war torn landscape with bombers flying overhead and dropping their sticks of bombs. Black oily clouds climbs into the sky alongside bombed out buildings. In the middle is a lone wheelchair user looking down at a single plank laid across a deep bomb crater. A sign over his head reads ‘In Afghanistan – it’s access, but not as we know it!’ However, the word ‘Afghanistan’ is crossed through and written over the top of it is ‘Ukraine’.
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Crippen Cartoons 