Focus
Thursday July 26, 2007
First meeting
Wheel Power by ANTHONY THANASAYAN
This Sunday marks Petpositive’s inaugural meeting – and the disabled and the elderly will be the VIPs.
THIS is it, folks! The weekend that Petpositive has been eagerly awaiting is just days away. This Sunday, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) will be officially inaugurated by Datuk Ir Donald Lim Siang Chai, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, at a leading hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
(Petpositive stands for the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association.)
Imagine what your world would be like if you were paralysed and had little or no motivation in life. The only help you get may come from family members in between their many other responsibilities.
What if you were an ailing, elderly person living alone? Did you know that an increasing number of disabled people face this fate when their parents pass away? How would you pass your time if you had no one to talk to?
Petpositive offers hope to such people. We aim to enable and empower the disabled and the elderly through pet therapy. We hope to help them regain their resolve to live.
The people we will be working with include the blind, the deaf, those with learning or physical disabilities, stroke survivors, epileptics, and the depressed.
We don’t expect the handicapped or frail, elderly people to come to us; we will go to them if they ask us to. And we will cheer them up with a pet companion – or two.
With support from our advisers as well as medical and veterinary experts in our committee, we hope to make a true and lasting difference in their lives.
One of my greatest joys, as president of Petpositive, has been to coordinate this event.
One of the obstacles we encountered was people saying that we would never succeed as we’d sent out our invitations only recently. But they were wrong. They don’t realise how many people out there truly care for the disabled and the elderly. And there are also many selfless animal-lovers among us. Their support for our cause is overwhelming! Scores of them will give up their own VIP seats so that the disabled can be the VIPs for the night.
These unsung heroes believe that the disabled and the elderly – who rarely get the opportunity to enjoy a great evening out – deserve the very best.
For details about Petpositive, call 012-220 3146 / e-mail petpositive@yahoo.com.
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