‘I sat crossed legged looking at the two and a half year old lying on the floor in front of me. He looked like a baby but his body was twisted slightly and he was very still, so unlike an ordinary baby. The mother said she had six children. Three had died and three were at home. I looked at her, then at the child on the floor.
“And this one?” I asked
‘“Oh, and that one” she replied abruptly averting her gaze from him.
‘I may be bad at maths but to my mind that makes seven children.’
Judith (not her real name) works as an occupational therapist in the Middle East. As a Westerner, she faces many obstacles in her work: there are obvious ones as people tend to assume that all Westerners are American. Also, she has different beliefs and ways of doing things – even though she tries so hard to talk in their language, and adopt their customs. But how do you transform the common attitude that disabled children are evidence that God does not love the parents and this is His way of punishing them?
Generally, you do it bit by bit: you show that even these children can laugh and play, and love. Fatima is blind, deaf and dumb; but she sat with Judith, with a lump of clay between them. Gently, Judith took her hands and, even though she’d never touched it before, Fatima manipulated the clay with ease, and, after a while was communicating by touch with Charity (Judith’s local co-worker) and using the clay to create what she could not see.
Sometimes, more can be done. The two boys (see photo) can walk with the help of crutches, but only around the house. Judith’s team managed to get a wheelchair for the eldest one. However, the two boys usually shared it! Then, after two months, they got one for the little lad too. Both boys can now push themselves and can now go out into the street by themselves.
Judith puts it this way: ‘I know not everyone loves kids as I do and especially not disabled ones. But my mind goes back to Jesus’ response to kids… he had to work against cultural norms too. I know each child I handle I do so because of Him and for Him. I sometimes forget that this is enough to make it worth while!’
Tags: Disability, Middle-East