Stories/Lived Experience
Author: Harry Chikasamba, PhD Researcher, Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University
Every experience is different. And my late grandpa told me, when I was a few days to my 20th birthday, that ‘…in experience, we learn more about ourselves and others. You should be an ardent learner of life, through lived experiences.’ With that in mind, I became a learner of life. And everything fun, and beautiful.
17th March 2023 brought about its own lessons, unique and memorable. Most importantly, the day took me down memory lane. For the Irish, and several others, one needs no sermon about this day. No! St. Patrick is well-known across cultures and races. He was, and remains, a core part of the Irish culture – and identity.
I got to know about St. Patrick, and his place in Ireland’s and the Roman Catholic church’s history, in 2006. I had just been selected to St. Patrick’s Secondary School, one of Malawi’s most sought-after national secondary schools. And, on 17th March that same year, the school organized a big event to celebrate our patron saint. That was to become an annual feast, with prayer and all sorts of entertainment – sporting activities, music and dance. We ate and drank special meals and drinks to commemorate this day throughout the four years of my secondary education. But, most importantly, we came together as one – a community founded and deeply rooted in kindness, care, compassion and solidarity. The four core values that St. Patrick exhibited.
In September 2022, I was fortunate enough to secure a scholarship to study at Maynooth University in Ireland – a country that I had always dreamed of visiting. On the 1st of March 2023, with great excitement and a desire to immerse myself in the Irish culture, I arrived to begin my PhD studies with the School of Law and Criminology. My research focuses on exploring the principle of participation in the context of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of what it truly means to participate in development programmes and policies. This study is part of a broader project on Monitoring Participation of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in Development Programs and Policies, which is being carried out by the International Disability Alliance (IDA).
Being in Maynooth provided me with a unique opportunity to experience St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in an Irish way.
It rained in Maynooth on this day. But people gathered in large numbers to celebrate the nation’s pride and culture. Leading the parade was a group of little children; they must have been aged below 7, all clad in white taekwondo attire with green hats. They looked beautiful and marched with so much passion and joy. That, I must confess, was one of the things missing from all my past St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. From this alone, I came to learn two great lessons. First, children represent the future, and to preserve a people’s culture and identity, children should be involved in cultural activities. Second, people united by common values and a shared national vision should not be discouraged by any obstacle, bad weather or otherwise, from coming together to profess their cultural identity in words and deeds.
Is that all I learnt from my first Irish St. Patrick’s Day? Of course not. I learnt several other lessons from this experience, but I want to highlight one that stands out.
A number of persons with disabilities participated in the parade, some as spectators and others as active participants in various activities. I have been to over 30 countries – in Europe, Africa, South America and the Caribbean – but my experience of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland has shown me how inclusion in community life, culture and recreational activities should look like beyond statutes and policies. The ALL Institute, at Maynooth University, is implementing the DANCING project, which seeks to produce ground-breaking knowledge on the right of all persons with disabilities to take part in cultural life in the European Union. While reflecting on the timeliness of DANCING, my own experience of St. Patrick’s Day challenged my normative thinking about how everyday expressions of culture are, and ought to be, avenues for reconceptualizing disability and reinforcing an inclusive agenda.
The thoughts, triggered by my unique experience of this day, also took me back to August 2017 – when I joined the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a Human Rights Intern in Geneva. The Committee’s composition and business reflect the slogan that has characterized the disability movement for decades: Nothing about us without us, which signifies a strong desire to participate in all aspects of society. Cultural activities are some of the aspects of society where persons with disabilities have faced exclusion. This explains my joy over how St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Maynooth mirrored an inclusive agenda.
My first St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland reignited memories of this, and other lessons, and I am keen to utilize these in my academic and other activities here in Maynooth – and beyond.