Wheelchair bound, Mere Roden is a soft spoken and an enthusiastic woman who believes that life should not be defined by disability.

The 47-year-old from Koro Island in the Lomaiviti group lives in Vatuwaqa, Suva, and works as the deputy chair at the Include Disability- Employ this Ability (IDEA) programme.

“Today (yesterday) is an important and a very special day as we celebrate National Disability Day,” Ms Roden said.

She said she was passionate about advocating for independence through equitable access to the right services for people living with disability.

“I’m a mother of six children and I have been on wheelchair for the past seven years because of an old internal injury.

“People living with disability can have dreams and aspirations just like anyone else. We need to be determined in order to achieve them.

“We need to acknowledge that everyone has challenges in their lives and we need to be positive to overcome those challenges.”

She said there were so many good things in life to look forward to and people with disability should come out of their comfort zone.

“My life is not defined by my disability and I live life just like anyone else without a disability would live their life,” she said.

National Disability Day was celebrated across the nation yesterday.

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