What if we celebrated people's strengths?
The grassroots organization Made with Love transformed its approach to supporting people with disabilities in Bulgaria by shifting their narrative from focusing on disabilities to celebrating abilities. They successfully hosted a one-day festival which highlighted the talents of people in their community, fostering a more inclusive and empowering narrative of people with disabilities in their town.
In the small town of Pernik, Bulgaria, a small nonprofit organization, Made with Love is run by a single dedicated individual, Anelia Kirilova, who work with artists with disabilities and mothers of children with special needs. Through their various programming, Made with Love helps people to create and sell various types of artwork and crafts.
While the support provided was vital, the organization’s communications often portrayed individuals with disabilities in a disempowering light, focusing on their struggles rather than their strengths.
While the support they gave to people on the ground was vital, their communications had an opposite effect than intended: when speaking about them, they sometimes portrayed individuals with disabilities in a disempowering light, as victims who need support. Fine Acts worked with the participant to understand how important the framing of people with disabilities is.
Shifting the strategy
After attending the workshop, the nonprofit leader re-envisioned their entire approach to how they work with and speak about people with disabilities.
Although conceptualized in just a few days, the nonprofit leader was so inspired by the hope-based workshop that she successfully held the a festival called The Power of the Human Spirit a few months later. The event highlighted the achievements of the people in their network, rather than focusing only on their needs and struggles, highlighting their abilities rather than their disabilities. The festival showcased their community’s various talents, such as a painter who is an amputee, an singer who is blind, and a dancer in a wheelchair.
Катрин Витали (Catherine Vitali), referred to locally as the 'blind angel of music' who sang during the festival, along with sign language interpreter Борис Бъндев (Boris Bandev)
For the weeks leading up to the festival, Made with Love shared profiles of each of the different people in the community, sharing their stories of resilience, creativity, and hope.
The format and concept of the festival “was a complete shift in her thinking,” recalls Yana Buhrer, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Fine Acts. The organizer leader went from wanting to sell crafts by people with disabilities to actually celebrating people as they are and creating broader narrative change.
“This shift from victim to hero—or even victim to human—is a difficult one,” says Yana. It takes time and effort to get it, and then apply it. “But, so many people are disempowered enough already, they face enough oppression, that we don’t need to continue it. We, as communicators and civil society actors, need to uplift and celebrate people, not only because it’s effective, but for the sheer reason that it’s people’s dignity.”
This change in perspective not only uplifted the individuals but also created broader narrative change in the community, promoting a more inclusive and empowering view of people with disabilities.
This change in thinking is one of the profound outcomes that often comes from hope-based communications workshops. And by changing how we think, we can approach our challenges in new ways, leading to innovative ideas that turn into tangible actions.
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