404 chapter 44
But Mari does not want to go back to her own village. “It’s depressing there!” she
says. “I never go out of the house. I don’t want to. The people don’t treat me like myself
anymore. They don’t even treat me like a person. They treat me like a cripple, a nothing.
One time I tried to kill myself. But here in Ajoya it’s a different world! People treat me just
like anybody else. I love it here! And I feel useful.”
Her fellow team members in the village
rehabilitation center are trying to convince
Mari to go back sometime to her own village
as a rehabilitation worker. They offer
to help her change people’s attitudes
there, too. Mari is still uncertain. But the
PROJIMO team has begun to visit Mari’s
village. Already the families of disabled
children there have begun to organize.
The village children have helped build a
‘playground for all’, and adults have built
a small ‘rehabilitation post’ next to it. So,
things have begun to change in Mari’s
village too. The ‘different world’ has
begun to grow and spread.
Mari helps another spinal cord injured
girl with her exercises.
In PART 2 of this book we look at ways to help the community respond more
favorably to disabled children and their needs. Usually, of course, a village or
neighborhood does not decide, on its own account, to offer greater assistance,
acceptance, and opportunity to disabled persons and their families. Rather, disabled
persons and their families must begin to work together, to look for resources, and to
re-educate both themselves and their community. Finally—when they gain enough
popular understanding and support—they can insist on their rights.
The different chapters in PART 2 discuss various approaches and possibilities for
bringing about greater understanding of the needs and possibilities of disabled children
in their communities. We start by looking at what disabled persons and their families
can do for themselves and each other. We look at possibilities for starting a family-
based rehabilitation program, and the importance of starting community-directed
rehabilitation centers run by disabled villagers themselves. We explore ways to include
village families and school children. Finally, we look at specific needs of the disabled
child growing up within the community—needs for group play, schooling, friendships,
respect, self-reliance, social activities, ways to earn a living or to serve others; also
needs for love, marriage, and family.
EXAMPLES, NOT ADVICE
In this part of the book, which deals with community issues, we will try mostly to give
examples rather than advice. When it comes to questions of attitudes, customs, and
social processes, advice from any outsider to a particular community or culture can be
dangerous. So as you read the experiences and examples given in these pages, do not
take them as instructions for action. Use, adapt, or reject them according to the reality of
the people, culture, needs, and possibilities within your own village or community.
Each community is unique and has its own obstacles and possibilities.
Disabled village Children