THE MALAYSIAN PARKINSON'S DISEASE ASSOCIATION (MPDA) in Kuala Lumpur continues to be one of Petpositive's strongest supporters.Engineer Sivaraman Kannan (left), who is not only Vice-President of the MPDA but also a member of Petpositive took part in our now epoch-making animal-assisted therapy activity at the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia, last month.
Siva, who turns 70 years old next May, has had Parkinson's disease for almost 12 years. He was one of Petpositive's official photographers for the event, a service he very kindly offered free of charge.
The MPDA VP wrote earlier today to share with PET+BLOGSPOT what he thought about the whole event and what it meant to him.
Here now is his letter in full:
AN UNEXPECTED OUTING TO REMEMBER
Story by Sivaraman Kannan. Photos by Ruwaidy Mat Rasul.
I got an invitation from Anthony to join the Petpositive group for a day outing at the FRIM Botanical Gardens in Kepong.
I gladly accepted the golden opportunity and at daybreak on Tuesday, 30th October, started my journey from Kajang to Kepong.
I had to leave early because I had to negotiate through a few traffic congested areas and I was not quite sure of the route to the Gardens.
Though Anthony sent a location guide in his e-mail, my computer went kaput and I could not print it out. I tried to make a sketch of the map but the shaking of my hand due to my condition was so bad that I could not read my own writing!
So I left early to be on time with my sketchy sketch map and headed for FRIM.
I reached the main entrance of the FRIM complex and it turned out that the Botanical Gardens was further away. The guard was so helpful that he even got another guard to lead me to the Garden on his motorbike because oral directions were complicated!
I was under the impression that we were going for a normal stroll in the gardens and was surprised that a jungle-trekking event was on the main programme!
I was even more surprised when the participants started arriving. There were people not only on wheelchairs but prams also. There was this group of blind people and another group of Deaf people.
Though we had groups with various disabilities and at the first glance very, very unsuitable for jungle-trekking, the enthusiasm and expectation written on their faces had to be seen and cannot be described in words.
After the registration and other formalities were completed, we were separated into two groups. The first group went jungle-trekking while the second group was briefed on the work done by the FRIM landscap
ing team led by the organisation's horticulturist Mr Elango Velautham.
There were many volunteers around to help and assist the participants.
We also had a few animals to join us. We had one cat, two rabbits , three frogs and four dogs!
Surprisingly the dogs and cats were very well behaved in each others' presence.
There were lots of food and drinks for all. After the briefing, we went on the jungle-trek route.
Frankly I expected a route on fairly level area going around the plants and bushes around the lakes. I was pleasantly surprised when the trek actually entered a jungle, albeit a man-made on at that, the product of Mr. Elango’s fine team.
If not for the concrete pathway, the jungle did not look man-made at all.
My congratulations to Mr. Elango and his team for a job well planned and done. This is the only place where people with movement disabilities can get a glimpse of our jungles and forests with reasonably easy access.
We had our lunch and the group photography sessions before ending a very unusual and enjoyable day.
Thank you Anthony and your team for the wonderful day!
PS: Just a few suggestions about the jungle-track itself:
I got an invitation from Anthony to join the Petpositive group for a day outing at the FRIM Botanical Gardens in Kepong.
I gladly accepted the golden opportunity and at daybreak on Tuesday, 30th October, started my journey from Kajang to Kepong.
I had to leave early because I had to negotiate through a few traffic congested areas and I was not quite sure of the route to the Gardens.
Though Anthony sent a location guide in his e-mail, my computer went kaput and I could not print it out. I tried to make a sketch of the map but the shaking of my hand due to my condition was so bad that I could not read my own writing!
So I left early to be on time with my sketchy sketch map and headed for FRIM.
I reached the main entrance of the FRIM complex and it turned out that the Botanical Gardens was further away. The guard was so helpful that he even got another guard to lead me to the Garden on his motorbike because oral directions were complicated!
I was under the impression that we were going for a normal stroll in the gardens and was surprised that a jungle-trekking event was on the main programme!
I was even more surprised when the participants started arriving. There were people not only on wheelchairs but prams also. There was this group of blind people and another group of Deaf people.
Though we had groups with various disabilities and at the first glance very, very unsuitable for jungle-trekking, the enthusiasm and expectation written on their faces had to be seen and cannot be described in words.
After the registration and other formalities were completed, we were separated into two groups. The first group went jungle-trekking while the second group was briefed on the work done by the FRIM landscap
ing team led by the organisation's horticulturist Mr Elango Velautham.There were many volunteers around to help and assist the participants.
We also had a few animals to join us. We had one cat, two rabbits , three frogs and four dogs!
Surprisingly the dogs and cats were very well behaved in each others' presence.
There were lots of food and drinks for all. After the briefing, we went on the jungle-trek route.
Frankly I expected a route on fairly level area going around the plants and bushes around the lakes. I was pleasantly surprised when the trek actually entered a jungle, albeit a man-made on at that, the product of Mr. Elango’s fine team.
If not for the concrete pathway, the jungle did not look man-made at all.
My congratulations to Mr. Elango and his team for a job well planned and done. This is the only place where people with movement disabilities can get a glimpse of our jungles and forests with reasonably easy access.
We had our lunch and the group photography sessions before ending a very unusual and enjoyable day.
Thank you Anthony and your team for the wonderful day!
PS: Just a few suggestions about the jungle-track itself:
- Please have it more often.
- The walking patients need a rest area every 200 to 300 metres where they can sit.
- The concrete pathway should have a kerb on the side facing a fall in ground level. Wheelchair patients may topple over if the wheels go over the side of the concrete pathway.
- In the jungle-trek route, have regular level areas where slow patients can rest while allowing others to proceed without hindrance.
- For the jungle trekking, have at least TWO volunteer helpers for every wheelchair patient instead of one. The slopes can be tricky especially if it is wet. The strain can be too much for one caregiver or volunteer to push a patient up hill .
End.
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