School of Sociology and Social Policy

Jannine Ebenso

MA Disability Studies by Distance Learning | 2009 - 2011

About me
I graduated for the first time over 20 years ago, when I qualified as a physiotherapist at Salford. After working for the National Health Service (NHS) I went to Nigeria in 1992 to work with leprosy affected people.

I stayed in Nigeria with The Leprosy Mission until 2008. My role as physiotherapist/disability adviser involved working with disabled people and also training health and community development workers.

My current work is still with The Leprosy Mission, but I am now based at the International office in Brentford, UK where I am now the Global Disability Adviser.

My motivation to study
My work as the Global Disability Adviser with The Leprosy Mission involves looking at disability policies around the world and advising our offices and projects on the best way to help disabled people.

I was reading lots of social policy literature and my husband noticed that the same books I was reading were on the core book list of the disabilities studies course and said “Why not have help to read the topic and at the end of it even have a higher qualification”.

Why Leeds? We live in Leeds, and my husband is already a University of Leeds student (PhD), so he knew the department well.

My experience
My experience at Leeds was very positive.  I think the course is excellent. The course materials are excellent and really facilitate self-study as part of a distance learning course. Of course, living in Leeds, gave me an opportunity to also use the library facilities. What a library! I have never seen so many books and journals.

Both the academic staff and the library and administrative support staff have been excellent. I did not feel at a disadvantage compared to full-time students. I was always treated with respect and in a very timely manner.

Life in Leeds
Leeds is a great city to study in. The historic buildings (Including parts of the university) are just beautiful. The public transport and leisure and entertainment services are good. The city centre is compact and most things are in walking distance of the university.

Since graduation
My dissertation was based on interviews with disabled people in Nigeria and we are working together to develop advocacy messages for highlighting the barriers faced by people with impairments.

I also work with the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) and my new knowledge and skills have helped me greatly with that.

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