https://youtu.be/eCtvT_8v9cI?si=HQim4_HcY54EeOOU

In this episode of Green Mountain Disability Stories, we welcome Dr. Sefakor Komabu-Pomeyie back to the podcast. She sits down with CDCI executive director Jesse Suter to talk about her brand new memoir: I'm Able: A Woman's Advice for Disability Change Agents.

The memoir cover's Dr Komabu-Pomeyie's life as a child in Ghana, where she contracted polio and lost the use of her legs, but took heart from her mother's unwavering support, faith, and love, all the way through to her current life in Vermont, where she has earned a PhD from the University of Vermont and is now a lecturer in UVM Disability Studies.
"It should come freely to children to know that there is something like that. That one thing is they will also have it at any point in time. We must make sure that we clarify for them that you just don't know which one you will have, and you don't know when you will have it. But the reality is you will have a type of disability before you die, if you live long."
Watch the episode or listen to it here.



A full transcript of the episode appears below.



Jesse Suter: Hello. I'm so excited to see you. Let me do a quick introduction and then we'll jump in to our conversation today. So,my name is Jesse. I use he/him pronouns and I'm the executive director of the Center on Disability and Community Inclusion at the University of Vermont. And it's it's my sincere pleasure to spend a little time with Dr. Sefakor Komabu-Pomeyie.

And I've got questions. We were just talking a little bit about them, and I thought it'd be fun to start with you reading a paragraph. It's at the top of page 71. Are you willing to start there?

Dr. Sefakor Komabu-Pomeyie: Sure. Thank you. Prof, I'm so grateful for this opportunity also. And I am ready to read a paragraph from my book that is page 71 in my book.
"I found a sister I will talk to about my challenges and fears. It was with Mawutor. I discussed my challenges. I thought day the greatest challenge I've ever faced in my academic life wasn't with academic work itself. It was, Oh, it's always has to do with stairs. Staircases and how to climb them safely to attend classes. Sometimes I fall. Most often when I fall, I get up, dust myself off and continue climbing. Or on a good day friends come to my aid. But there are times that the fall is too hard. I hurt myself and spend days in the hospital. She answered, 'Unfortunately, these are not easy any better around here. All of our lectures are going to be on the top floors of the lecture. What are we going to do about it?' I told her I always manage. This too I will manage."

--I'm Able: A Woman's Advice for Disability Change Agents
Jesse: So thank you for reading that paragraph. I wanted you to read that before I gave you a more formal introduction, which I'll do right now reading from the back of the book. But just that paragraph, to me, captures so much of what I think you were trying to share with your book and and is a great introduction, I think, to your spirit. To what you call "hustle" many times.

Sefakor: Yes!

Jesse: And then there are other things that I want to talk to you more about. But let me shift from that to a more formal introduction and then we'll jump in.

So. You are an international disability rights advocate, educator, researcher and policy analyst for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, and a resource center coordinator of the Ghana Education Service. You are the founder of Enlightening and Empowering People with Disabilities in Africa, and you presented on several platforms, including the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New England Educational Organization (NEERO), African Studies Association and European Conference on African Studies Switzerland.

You're currently teaching -- and I'm so happy to share this -- at the University of Vermont and St Michael's College. It is my pleasure to talk to you today.

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