Handicapped people need our help

A normal adolescent visits a home for the severely handicapped and resolves to help them enjoy life as he dose

Step into the place. Know what to expect. Know what to see. These were the first thoughts that flashed in my mind on my first visit to the Home for the Blind and Multihandicapped.

Thoughts zoomed and raced around my head as I stepped out of the orange Peugeot car, onto the grubby soil which squished down as my weight settled on it like a heavy bag.

Of course, everything my brain had conjured had been unreal, an illusion almost.

We had walked for only a minute towards the home of what I imagined would be the most pitiful people in Thailand, when out of the mist came a woman.

I guessed she must be our guide to the place.

She put our food and sweets on to a trolley  which she proceeded to push. We followed her and the various St. Michael’ sweet, doughnuts, chocolates etc.

 The children! Oh the sight of all of them. I could feel pity overwhelm me like death over a sick man.

I glanced at them for a fraction of a second and already knew they were not like  the  handicapped children I had expected to see. They were actually worse cases.

Some children’s mouths or chins were so deformed that they were shaped in a slightly different angle or were different in size from those of a normal person.

Some children’s brains were so damaged they repeated actions over and over such as banging their legs on the floor.

They were all blind.

Most had eyes shut which would probably stay shut for eternity. Some needed others  to feed them, but not all were helpless.

Some could even do weaving and sewing. Here is how I saw them do it.

Two children aged 25 and 15 were making a mat.

One put some thread on a shuttle and carefully felt his way around the strings of the machine

When he thought it was right, he poked the shuttle through the strings and the other boy pushed the thread or material up the machine with a long wooden straight-edge.

And then the whole process was repeated over and over until they finished a mat.

I wanted to buy one, buy unfortunately, a loud man had ordered 20 mats before I could buy any. 

 

 

 

After my visit, I felt the urge to help them, and these are some of the ideas I came up with.

l Visit them often and talk to them regularly, though they may not understand you.

Give them many encouraging words to help them keep their fighting instincts to survive and live a prosperous life.

Through this contact, the children would never give up the hope of surviving. They would learn to enjoy life even in the they’re in.

This would be a key factor in helping them to feel good about themselves. Most importantly, they would learn to just enjoy life and do things they enjoy doing.

I though of this because I enjoy sports and I see how that makes me enjoy life it is.

l Second, encourage and assist them to walk and play a lot which can help make their muscles, bones and joints stronger.

This will be very essential when they grow older. After more practice they could walk comfortably and normally.

I thought of this because I love games and I see how that has made me fitter and stronger over the past years.

l Third, give them nice food to eat because that would make them happy and not feel isolated or lonely. After all, happiness has a major role in improving their life.

I thought of this because I love to eat sweets, especially gum, and when I chew goum while working or studying I find I work better and have more creative ideas.

Just another weird thing in my personality.

l Lastly, find their strengths, what they do best. This will help them find them a job to earn a living when they grow up.

They will need some money to survive the rest of their lives because, of course, they desire to live a happy life.

I would like to conclude that these children have a chance—and above all deserve a chance – and we are the people to give it to them.

If we give them jobs and donate money to help them, they can survive and live a happy, blissful, trouble-free life

But if we do nothing – or just help them for a day – they won’t have a chance to live or survive happily.

This is because – and I can say it straight out – we didn’t give them one single tiny microscopic chance, which affects a huge part of their lives.

As the Chinese proverb goes, “Feed a man a fish for  a day and he will eat, but teach him how to fish and he will live.”

The choice is ours.

By Anajuk (Pete) Chareonwongsak is a 12-year-old student at Bangkok Pattana Internaitonal School.

Bangkok Post 24/09/2000