I Am Differently Able
December 14, 2021
Imagine sitting in one spot, not being able to move to the right or left, hungry and not being able to get up and get food, being pressed to go to the toilet but having to rely on someone to do all of this for you. Being a girl makes it extra hard. When one’s menses come, being too embarrassed to tell someone what is happening, and not able to change a sanitary towel, is beyond embarrassing. Having to completely depend on someone to do something so personal, is extremely sad. These are some of the challenges that someone who is physically handicapped is forced to endure.
Every year we carry out a Community Social Responsibility (CSR) project with the members of the Choice Club. We pick an activity that helps the community around us. Reaching out to those in our community that are disadvantaged has always been key in our program. We teach the girls to be mindful of those who need our support in the society. This does not have to involve money; small acts of service go a long way, too. Being able to do something for someone who cannot help themselves or just offering kindness, speaks volumes. The importance of ‘disability awareness’ has been given prominence in recent decades, making it easier for people with disabilities and the society to develop empathy for one another.
People with disability face a lot of discrimination. Most of the children we encountered at the rescue Centre we visited, have been abandoned. It was heart breaking to hear stories of children found abandoned in forests, by the roadside, in hospitals, and others starved almost to death. In the African society, many people still believe that having a child with a disability is a bad omen. Some believe the child has been bewitched while others believe evil spirits are involved in the disability. A family will be found soliciting the services of a witchdoctor looking for remedy for the disabled person; when this does not work, the disabled person is, in the majority of cases, abandoned.
A lot of ignorance abounds around people with disabilities. There are people who will not go near a disabled person. The myth is that by touching a disabled person the disability will spread, or, bad luck will follow. There are those who use disabled people for rituals to get rich. Albinos are known to be at great risk of body parts for harvesting. There is a belief that concoctions made from the body parts of people with albinism makes one rich. In many cultures, people with disabilities are not considered fully human.
To hear the challenges that most of these children have encountered, and still see them smiling and reaching out for a touch, makes one wonder how people can be so cruel. Among the children we encountered was a girl who had both of her hands completely burnt, but the speed at which she struggles to write a sentence is amazing. When we played music for the children, it was heartwarming to see them get so excited and happy while dancing to it. A boy in a wheelchair cheerfully showed us the tricks he can do with it.
We reminded the girls that we are all created in the image of God. No one of us is more deserving than the other. These children long for a hug, a kind word, recognition, attention and love. They both need and deserve to be treated as full and equal citizens. The notion that those with disability are only comfortable with their ‘own kind’ needs to stop. We all need to get involved in giving the ‘differently abled’ hope, reaching out to them. Showing kindness goes a long way in easing some of their challenges. We need to pass messages of hope to these children.
Below are pictures from the visit. We carried foodstuff and made delicious meals that we shared with the children. We helped in washing their clothes, cleaned their dormitories, and pushed those in wheelchairs from one point of the Centre to the other. We played games, we danced, we told stories and encouraged those that had lost hope.
A student from AIC NGONG school together with a staff member helped cut meat as we prepared lunch.
The girls knead dough for preparing ‘chapati.’
The girls helped serve lunch to the children.
Adorable babies enjoy the lunch prepared
A child at the Centre gets a piggyback ride, and he is overjoyed at the gesture. He completely refused to get off the lady’s back.
The girls help wash clothes for the children.
A girl helps push a young boy, so he can join the others for lunch.
“I do not have a disability, I have a gift.”
An adorable boy poses for the camera. His smile is infectious.
” I do not have a disability, I have a different ability.”
Making a girl smile at the Centre. Spreading love.
Sharing candy and other goodies with the children.
The girls join in a traditional dance.
The children at the Centre happy to have visitors.
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
“Know me for my abilities, not my disability.”
DISABILITY ISN’T CONTAGIOUS; IGNORANCE IS!