THANKS
It is impossible to adequately thank all the people who helped make A Health Handbook for
Women with Disabilities a reality. It started 10 years ago as a good idea shared by 2 women, and
grew into a remarkable international collaboration between women with disabilities and their
friends in more than 40 countries.
Listing a person’s name does not begin to say how much her efforts and ideas helped create
this book. Every staff member, intern, and volunteer here at Hesperian also helped bring this
book into the world, including those who raise funds, manage finances, publicize our materials,
and pack and ship them around the world.
Along with our tireless medical editors, we called on a few reviewers over and over again,
and they deserve a special mention and our sincerest thanks: Naomy Ruth Esiaba, Kathy
Martinez, Gail McSweeney, Janet Price, Judith Rogers, Andrea Shettle, Ekaete Judith Umoh, and
Veda Zachariah.
Many thanks to the following groups of people with disabilities who contributed so much
of their hearts, time, and personal experience to help us make sure the material in this book
would be useful to women with disabilities all over the world:
Afghanistan: the National
Association of Women with
Disabilities of Afghanistan
(NAWDA)
Cambodia: the Women with
Disabilities Committee of the
Disability Action Council
China: MSI Professional Services
Colombia: the Colombian
Association for Disabled
Peoples (ASCOPAR)
El Salvador: La Asociación
Cooperativa de Grupo
Independiente Pro
Rehabilitación Integral
(ACOGIPRI)
Fiji: the Support Group for
Women with Disabilities
Finland: the Abilis Foundation,
and The National Council on
Disability
Republic of Georgia: the Gori
Disabled Club
India: the Amar Jyoti Charitable
Trust, Blind People Association,
Catholic Relief Services
(CRS), Disabled People’s
International, Humane Trust,
and Sanjeevini Trust
Jamaica: Combined Disabilities
Association
Kenya: The Bob Segero Memorial
Project, and Hope
Laos: the Lao Disabled
People’s Association, and
the Lao Disabled Women
Development Center
Lebanon: the Arab Organization
of Disabled People, and the
National Association for the
rights of Disabled People
Lebanon (NARD)
Lesotho: the Lesotho National
Federation of Organizations of
Disabled
Mauritius: the Association of
Women with Disability
Nepal: the Nepal Disabled
Women Society, and Rural
Health Education Services
Trust (RHEST)
Nigeria: the Family-Centered
Initiative for Challenged
Persons (FACICP)
Palau: the Organization of
People with Disabilities
(Omekasang)
Philippines: Differently Abled
Women’s Network (DAWN),
Disabled People’s Internationa
(DPI), and KAMPI
Russia: Perspektiva (the Regional
Society of Disabled People)
South Korea:
Korean Differently Abled
Women United
Tanzania: The National Council
for People with Disabilities
Thailand: Disabled People’s
International-Asia Pacific
Trinidad/Tobago: the Tobago
School for the Deaf, Speech
and Language Impaired
Uganda: the Disabled Women’s
Network and Resource
Organisation (DWNRO),
Mobility Appliances
by Disabled Women
Entrepreneurs (MADE),
and the National Union of
Disabled Persons of Uganda
USA: Mobility International
USA (MIUSA), Through
the Looking Glass, Women
Pushing Forward, and the
World Institute on Disability
(WID)
Vietnam: the Vietnam Veterans
of America Foundation
Yemen: the Arab Human Rights
Foundation
Zimbabwe: Disabled Women
Africa (DIWA), the National
Council on Disabled Persons
of Zimbabwe, the Southern
Africa Federation of the
Disabled (SAFOD), and
Women with Disabilities
Development (ZWIDE)