492 chapter 52
Some visiting advisers to PROJIMO were older disabled persons who had learned to
understand their own feelings, had married, or had formed loving relationships. Slowly,
the disabled young people at PROJIMO began to accept their own desires, needs, and
dreams. More important, they began to discover they were not so alone, not as different
from other people, as they had thought. Above all, they discovered that they were
attractive to other persons. Soon the romances began.
At first, things sometimes got out of hand. The bottled-up feelings of the young
people came flooding out. There were occasional mistakes and abuses. When the
disabled group discovered that the rules society had set for them were unfair, often their
first response was to break the rules recklessly. But then, faced by the sometimes cruel
results of their own hurry, passion, and inexperience, they discovered the need for a few
precautions and guidelines determined by the group. They had been hurt often enough
themselves not to want to cause additional hurt. And now with the spread of HIV, they
are also aware they must have “safer sex” if and when they have sex.
Little by little, the PROJIMO team members have discovered their ability to live fuller
lives and have more complete relationships than they had previously believed possible.
Also, little by little, the local community has begun to accept this. For the first time,
romances have begun to develop openly between non-disabled and disabled villagers. A
new level of awareness and acceptance is slowly being achieved.
Conchita, who is paraplegic, was sure she could never marry. She came
to PROJIMO for rehabilitation and later became one of the workers.
She is now happily married to one of the able-bodied villagers.
Disabled village Children