Rita Chan de Yee receives 2001 Poder Ciudadano Prize

by Poder Ciudadano
a program of the Foundation for Citizen Liberty

On July 4 the Foundation for Citizen Liberty announced that Rita Chan de Yee is the winner of the 2001 Poder Ciudadano Prize, for her work toward the approval of municipal agreements and laws in favor of people with disabilities. Chan de Yee is president of the National Association of Handicapped Persons.

In recognition, a silkscreen by renowned Panamanian painter Olga Sinclair was presented by Mariela Ledezma, president of the advisory council of the "Civic Action and Power" program. The council also includes Miguel Antonio Bernal, Ane Marie Canevaggio, Rina Gedalov and Rainelda Mata-Kelly.

Other nominees for this third version of the prize included anthropologist Brittmarie Janson Perez, for promoting the implementation of the democratic system, and engineer J. Thomas Ford, above all for his volunteer work in charitable groups dedicated to children, the sick and the disabled.

The Poder Ciudadano Prize was created to highlight those persons who are an example of permanent civic participation, who have been capable of assuming an extraordinary role in an ordinary situation, selflessly demonstrating what it means to exercise their power and producing a positive impact in the community.

Starting this year, the prize bears the name of engineer Jean Julien Canavaggio Bordonis, whose biographical resume was read by his daughter Ane Marie. His wife Raquel presented I. Roberto Eisenmann Jr., president of the Foundation for Citizen Liberty, with a photograph of Canavaggio as a memento of this outstanding professional, businessman and community leader, who boldly fought for the welfare of our city.

Among the people who have been honored with this prize are Esther Carles de Adsett and Dorothy Wilson (1997), for their outstanding efforts in defense of the Metropolitan Nature Park, and Maria Eugenia Gerbaud de Guardia (2000), for nearly a decade of tireless struggle in defense of the Pacora River.

After the presentation of the prize, a public forum on "The Providing of Opportunities for Active Participation by People With Disabilities," in which the panelists included, in addition to J. Thomas Ford and Rita Chan de Yee, Fanny H. Wong, the Americas coordinator for the Christian Fellowship of Sick and Disabled Persons (FRATER, by its Spanish initials).

The panelists shared with those present the purposes of their work in this area, as well as their experiences over the years. Their principal message was that each of us can overcome his or her limitations and do something constructive for the community, although we should not forget that people with disabilities require accessibility and facilities that permit them to maintain an adequate quality of life, and for that they need the active cooperation of all their fellow citizens.