The Hopes and Dreams of Children with Disabilities
Albania: I dream of being a dancer – Fatjona, age 13
Interviewed by Majlinda Karameta, WV Albania
Since the accident, my life has never been the same. I was only 8 at that time and now I am 13. During these four years I have seen more hospitals and doctors than I have seen in the movies. After the accident, I had no choice other than to drop out of school because I couldn’t speak, couldn’t walk and couldn’t even move from my bed. I had to learn for the second time everything from the beginning, like little babies do.
Everything looked impossible, until I started to speak [just some words] and move some of my limbs, like my hands. Meanwhile, I lost one school year. But I didn’t want to surrender. And so I started my second battle. After I learned to speak for the second time, I had to learn how to go in a wheelchair to the school where I used to go running. My mom, Donika, helps me get ready for school and my father brings us there by car. My mother helps me by pushing my chair and sometimes struggles to find a way through the obstacles with the chair. Once we are at the school yard, together with my friends, she has to lift my chair up the stairs that lead to my classroom. I have to ask for my friends’ help every time I want to go out of the class during the lunch break or during the physical education hour. I try to stay in the class until the lessons end, and my mom comes to pick me up because I can’t go home alone. There isn’t an accessible way for my chair at the school. Actually, there isn’t anywhere.
My fight to be the old Fatjona took place especially at my class. Because I was away from school for a long time, I wasn’t walking in step with my classmates. Sometimes my mouth and my hands don’t respond to what my brain tells them to do. I can’t keep notes when my teacher explains the lesson, and I can’t finish the class work at the same time as my classmates. When I am asked by the teacher to answer her questions, some of the other pupils get impatient because I need more time to answer. But my teacher is always very patient with me because she knows I have the answers but I just need time.
My parents and my brother are my biggest supporters. They are the joy of my life. My brother, Sajmir, is my idol and my model. Immediately after he finishes school he comes home, instead of playing with his friends, to help my father at the small shop we have at home, so my mom can help me do some physiotherapy exercises. He also helps me do my homework, and we spend a lot of time playing together.
I dream of being a dancer when I grow up, and I pray to God every day to help me realise my dream. Maybe for you it may seem strange that a girl like me, in a wheelchair, has a dream like this, but I have it. One of the doctors I met told me that if I want to be happy and bring back the old Fatjona I had only two choices – laughing and physiotherapy. More than anything else I want to be the same girl I used to be, and I am very close to realising this because now I have started to walk without the wheelchair, using a rolling walker. And I feel that this is only the beginning of my journey to be the same Fatjona I used to be. I will not surrender.
Bangladesh: My dream is to be a doctor – Ritu, age 16
Interviewed by Muhamed Khaliduzzaman, WV Bangladesh
I am the first child of my parents and was born on the Bangla New Year day. We usually exchange gifts on that day. My birth can be considered as a gift from God for my parents. I am the only person among our relatives who uses a wheelchair for movement. I don’t know why God created me like this but I think God must have a plan. I believe that God gave me this lifestyle because God loves love. I am sure that I am blessed.
I have no problem to move around with my wheelchair if the places are accessible for me. My school is near to my house so I never feel any problem to go there. But travel from one place to another is quite challenging. As accessible public transport is not available here, my family usually avoids most social activities. When we do attend a gathering, people usually look at me with curious eyes. But I don’t care because I know who I am and I am not a stranger. It’s not my problem, but it is a problem of those who have difficulty accepting the diversity.
I am from a poor family with only the single income from my father’s small business. I was born with fragile legs and my parents spent a lot of money on my treatment. They did everything for me within their limits. They had only dreamed to see me standing on my legs. All of their concentration was how to make me cured and ‘normal’. After a long struggle they finally accepted the condition. I think they were not wrong, as every parent should have the same desire. But it would be fine if they were guided by the doctors properly and got the message earlier. If they had accepted this earlier, I could have started my student life two years earlier which would be good for me as well as good for them. However, this experience helped me to determine the aim of my life. My dream is to be a doctor in the future. If I can, I’ll have the opportunity to serve poor people and my parents as well. I am always sincere in my studies to achieve my desired goal. But I still believe that it depends on the decision of God.
Our school is a three-storied building and the common classroom is on the top floor. It’s sometimes really hard for me to move between these floors several times a day. I requested our teacher to shift our common classroom to the ground floor. My request was not considered because it’s not a need for many students at my school. Just imagine if there were more students like me in our schools, the response of our teachers might be different. But I never feel that I am segregated from my friends. We attend the classes and enjoy leisure time together. You may say that I can’t walk, but the reality is I can. So-called ‘normal’ people don’t need the support from their hands for walking, but everyone is somehow different. I am also different from others and I am happy with myself without any complaints to anyone.
When I was in grade four, it became difficult for my mother to carry me. She felt the necessity of a wheelchair for me but it was difficult for my family to manage the cost of the wheelchair. Once my family found a wheelchair, it was painful for me because it was for an adult. A couple of years later, World Vision helped me get a wheelchair. Some experts prepared the wheelchair according to my measurements and gave it to me. I feel comfortable with the new one and I know that it has been made only for me.
China: I can realise my dream of becoming a teacher – JunJun, age 9
Interviewed by Joy Li, WV China
When I was born, I was diagnosed with a physical disability. My limbs were of an unusual shape and weakness. They could not extend straight and were rather stiff. I had very limited motor function. Standing up properly was impossible. But all of these physical troubles were nothing compared to my inner scar. I was abandoned by my parents.
I grew up in an orphanage in Wuqing District of Tianjin. Due to my physical condition, I needed help on the most basic tasks. Whenever I wanted to go anywhere or whenever it was meal time, I needed to be taken care of. This made me unhappy. I was a burden and would always be a burden.
When I reached age 4, I was sent to a special home that accepts orphans under age 6 with physical disabilities. It had a rehabilitation centre where children like me can receive rehabilitation.
I felt like a soldier. The teachers tried different methods to train my legs. After seven or eight months I was able to stand upright. From walking without aid to climbing stairs, I was making progress by leaps and bounds, the teachers told me.
I remember one day I couldn’t contain my excitement and shouted out, ‘I can walk on my own, just like anyone else!’
When I was 6 (the normal age for children to begin school) I was confronted with another challenge. Because my hands were weak, I was unable to hold a pencil properly. The teachers experimented with different methods to help me, such as holding my hand when writing and enlarging the words so that I could practice stroke by stroke. The teachers also asked me to grab certain objects so that my fingers would gain strength. Through these targeted exercises, I finally succeeded in writing my own name. The strokes were light and the words were still somewhat unclear, but the encouragement was enormous.
I like school. There are still many difficulties – such as my slow writing speed, which hindered me from finishing exams within the stipulated time, and my inability to climb stairs, which restricted me from participating in certain subjects. I tried my best and did pretty well. Last semester, I attained 91.5 on my Chinese exams and 98 on math. Though there are still many difficulties, I tried my best and did pretty well.
I see myself as no different from other children and I believe that by studying hard I can realise my dream of becoming a teacher. As for climbing stairs, I look forward to the day when I am on the Great Wall.
Ethiopia: I want to help children like me – Birtukan, age 14
Interviewed by Elias Ermias, WV Ethiopia
My name is Birtukan Shalama. I am age 14 and in grade five. My mother told me that I fell on the ground while playing with my elder brother at the age of 2. My left leg became paralysed, leaving me unable to walk. My mom visited a number of health centres, even in Addis Ababa, hoping that I will be cured. But there was no way to get healed. She then brought me to a traditional healer near my village, but to no avail. I think of the tiresome days my mom spent carrying me and in search of my healing, and I sometimes think I should have died rather than let my mom suffer this way.
My mom used to train me to stand on both legs, but it didn’t work. I spent three years lying in bed, hopeless and hidden from people. I didn’t know life outside my home, what was going on, what outside even looked like. At the age of 6, I started to try to walk with a walking stick. After a number of practices, I was able to stand by myself and even walk short distances. My father, Shalama, is a poor farmer and couldn’t buy me a crutch, so I always used a stick, which wasn’t comfortable and made my hands bleed. It is difficult to put in words what I felt.
I started school at age 9. I love going to school, even though the trip is tiresome for me. Although the school is not far from home, it takes me more than an hour to reach school, while my neighbourhood friends take only 10 minutes. I can’t walk fast like my friends and I have to stop to rest. Most of the time I miss the first period. My friends don’t accompany me because I am ‘too slow’. I am very sad for not being able to do what my peers are doing. Sometimes I think that I am not loved by God, unlucky and sinful. I ask God why can’t I enjoy, laugh, run, sit, stand, play games like my friends? My heart tells me that it is because of the sin that I might have committed. My school experience is not enjoyable. The children call me ‘lame’ in the class which leaves me in tears for the whole day. I always ask myself, ‘Why didn’t they understand that I didn’t bring my paralysis on my own?’
Despite all the messes, I have a dream to be a medical doctor to help children who are outcasts like me due to disabilities. But I still have a fear that my dream may not come true because of the disability I have. Whatever may come, I am now struggling to realise my dream. When I compare my dream with my challenges, I get encouraged, enthusiastic and patient. My mom is a very good woman and always supports me to make my dreams come true. I also want to be a gospel teacher. I’m a member of a choir group in my church.
My disability also causes a big challenge while using the toilet. The toilet is far from our home. Without my mother’s help, I would have fallen in the toilet many times. My mother, Tadelech, knows what I feel, what I think, what I want to do. Sometimes, she washes my hands after the toilet. God bless her! As a girl, I should have served my parents by fetching water from the water sources, but I couldn’t. It takes about two hours (round trip) for my mom to fetch water. Imagine how long it would take me! I wish I could help her.
In 2013, World Vision supported me with a supportive device for my left leg, which has improved my walking speed. I want to live a better life. I want to have accommodating toilets, schools, roads, etc., and I want to fulfil my dreams. I want my family, teachers, classmates and community to change their attitudes, be helpful, and be encouraging and supportive. I also want World Vision to teach our community to change their attitude and minimise barriers.
content credit : World Vision International
image credit : freepik