|
On the 18/9 October 2014, three males
from the Phyllis Robertson Home for Adults With Disabilities
went off to the Deo Volente (Latin meaning ‘ the Strength
of God’) camp – that’s situated to the North East of
Pretoria. Apart from enjoying sumptuous (and I really mean
SUMPTUOUS) meals, we and the other campers who mostly
suffered from some-or-other disability had a chance to do a
lot of soul-searching.
The theme of the camp was ‘Every Person
has a Story’. Every person has a unique story to tell about
their lives, and how THEY chose to interpret it.
It is also heavily influenced by their
life circumstances.
One of the things about people who
fall under the category “disabled – and their direct
families - have to look at life differently than
‘normal’ people. The person who falls under the
disability-label is faced with numerous challenges that
‘normal’ people don’t typically think about e.g. how to buy
a loaf of bread at the local café. Most people don’t have
to think about it BUT a Person With a Disability has to
- and everything
becomes a gargantuan challenge
for them to keep up
with society. They have to think where they’re going to buy
that loaf of bread, how they’re going to get there, are they
numerate i.e. can they add/ subtract cash, what will the
reaction be of the ‘normal’ bystanders towards them (because
people are ‘scared’ of things that they’re not familiar
with) … and there are lots of other daily difficulties as
well.
Upon our arrival at the camp, we were
all given a pack-of-cards that was a good symbolic way to
tell the camp-attendees that we are all dealt a hand at our
birth – and it’s really up to us to decide how we’re going
to play the hand that’s dealt to us. They mentioned that
some people were born with very good cards … but they manage
to throw it all away by e.g. becoming a drug addict; but on
the other hand: some people were born with poor cards … but
they manage to live a superb life. It depends on the
choices they end up making to play those cards.
The dominee who came, Ian Dubery, had a
regular birth and early-childhood – except that by the age
of 4 he had decided to follow his religious calling. (In
other words when most other children his age were thinking
about Lego building blocks, he was thinking about greater
things.) He fell sick as an adult when he was working
in an old-age home in England. So, using his Christian
faith, he prayed and he chose to follow his gut instinct
(i.e. his inborn and learned instinct).
He’s now going to get married
next year … which the medics had said that he never would do
… and that he’d accepted … before he followed his gut.
One thing that I learned in my
Psychology studies is that one of the most powerful messages
that a person can give, is to show them a living example of
whatever the person’s talking about. I therefore think that
Ian can do a lot to enable
people to see the power of the spirit.
“ we are representatives of many of
the things that they must fear – tragedy, loss, dark and the
unknown. Involuntarily we walk, or more often sit, in the
valley of the shadow of death. Contact with us throws up in
people’s faces the fact of sickness and death in the world,
which in themselves are an affront to all our aspirations
and hopes. A deformed and paralysed body attacks everyone’s
sense of well-being and invincibility. People do not want
to acknowledge what disability affirms – that life is tragic
and we shall all soon be dead. So they are inclined to
avoid those who are sick or old, shying away from the
disturbing reminders of unwelcome reality.”
Disability: Whose Handicap? Ann
Shearer. Basil Blackwell Publishers Ltd. (1981)
SNAP!
Derick
Poremba-Brumer B.A. (U.P), Further Diploma in Education –
Severe Disabilities (U.P.), Trauma Counseling (INTEC),
Logotherapy Advanced - NQF level 7 DISTINCTION (UNISA -
Centre for Applied Psychology) (a Doctorate is NQF level 8)
Even if I say so myself: not bad
for a guy who nearly died in 1986!
 |
