Instead Of Showing What People With Rare Diseases Can’t Do, This Campaign Shows Us What They Can

A year ago we, Irena Mila, Elena Fidanovska, Verica Piperevska as authors of this artworks, the sociologist Ivanna Hadzievska and Ance Tufekdzieva, Daniela Mircheska as parents of kids with Down Syndrome and Autism and Teano Cardula as a sister to our Erato, started our first photo - project, first of its kind in Macedonia called „Awakening“.

With couple of exhibitions and events during the past year we managed to rise the awareness about the people with disabilities and rare diseases and conditions demonstrating what they could do rather than what they couldn’t. In our campaign our friends with condition Down Syndrome, Autism, HAE, Gaucher’s disease, Tuberous sclerosis, Јуvenile dermatomyositis, Spinal muscle dystrophy, hearing loss and other rare diseases, were the models showing us dear dreams and what they are and what they can do.

Every childhood is unstoppable and knows no limits. All children have their own dreams and desires, and the way they make their dreams come true defines them as persons. As parents, we have to give them all the space they need so they can express themselves, to give them support in their small movements and to show them that there are no limits, to show them that they can be anything they want and we can do that if just give them chance.

These days we are celebrating one year of „Awakening“. Our aim was to use art to break down barriers and to show the people behind disability and to give them a stronger voice in the community and to show our friends and families in the same situation that they are not alone. We know that their sons/daughter, brothers and sisters, fathers, mothers are not afraid to love and to be passionate about their dreams.

We have made the first successful step to rise the awareness in our small, fragile but full of prejudices society. And we are thankful that our models are our powerful friends. And we love you!

Huge gratitude to the new Prime Minister of Macedonia Zoran Zaev for supporting this campaign from the beginning.

We thank the Prime Minister for the message that he conveys, that political parties play an important role in the regulation of policies associated with rare diseases and conditions!

P.S- Me Irena Mila and Elena Fidanska started working together as Willyou? in 2012, but this was our most beautiful project.

More info: willyou.mk