Decked in multi-colored African bogolan prints, traditional Sahelian boubou robes, blue tunic with printed motifs, the models exhibited the latest creation of Abidjan designers in an event dubbed “Strong and Beautiful Together”
Twenty models with disabilities have taken the catwalk in Ivory Coast in a ground-breaking assault on taboo and stigma.
AFP reported, “Grace Beho had her right forearm amputated after a road accident”
Grace Beho created the Mougnan Foundation, six months ago, this organisation is set up to improve the quality of life for disabled Ivorian women, which means “moving forward despite difficulties” in the Guere language of western Ivory Coast.
As Grace Beho stepped off the stage, she said, “I think that the women who are going to be watching us and who do not yet have confidence in themselves… are going to assert themselves and show themselves to the world as they are”
Leslie Antsere, who suffers from neurofibromatosis, a genetic disease that can cause disfiguring tumours, told that she was delighted to take part in an event that had stopped her from “feeling ashamed”.
The MC at the fashion show, Nelly Aka, was supporting high heels despite a food disability.
She said, “Even in a situation of disability, we can go beyond ourselves and do many things”
“Overcoming disability is about accepting yourself the way people look at you and criticize you will not affect who you are”
Sylvia, a model dressed in a green and white dress, opened the show, coming down the catwalk on crutches by the side of a swimming pool in front of an enthusiastic audience in a hotel in the Ivorian economic capital. The event took place on December 3, which is The UN’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Officially, Ivory Coast has 453,000 people who are disabled in some way, two percent of the population. They haven’t heard of such an event.
One of the organizers, Ange Prisca Gnagbo said, “Even mentioning a disabled person in the world of beauty is taboo in Ivory Coast”.
But such practices are entrenched in Ivory Coast, where disabilities are often viewed elsewhere in Africa as an affliction.
Beho said, “My dream is that in the coming decades I will see a handicapped person making a name for himself or herself in areas where the doors have been closed”
