Pictures by Sivaraman Kannan. Story by aNtSAY the word “disabled” and “volunteers” – and most of us would likely conjure up images of able-bodied people all helping the handicapped.
But what if the roles were reversed for a change?
Could people with disabilities themselves be volunteers?
Or would their handicapping conditions make it impossible for such a dream to ever come true for them?
This was exactly what about 30-people and I attempted to find out last week.
We were at the most unlikely of places to make the discovery: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Selangor.
In its 50 years of existence, the SPCA in Jalan Ampang had never experienced anything quite like what happened in the morning of Tuesday, June 24.
The event was organised by the animal shelter – as well as Petpositive – the animal-assisted therapy for the disabled and elderly society where I am a volunteer.
Nearly a dozen of the participants who turned up were made up of persons with disabilities, their families or caregivers.
Getting there was not as easy as we had thought.
A blind participant who had applied for leave from his office waited for more than an hour outside his flat for a taxi before giving up.
Unable to see cabs approaching his residence, he had to rely on his mobile phone for a call to inform him. And it was difficult to tell if the cab company had finally refused to take him because of the traffic jam or because of his condition.
Refusals from taxis are not uncommon when it involves customers with disabilities.
The visually-impaired chap was so looking forward to do something he never done before in his life since being a blind child. We had planned to get him to bathe one of the abandoned puppies in the SPCA.
Another participant in a wheelchair shrieked in delight when a tiny puppy was placed on her lap. “My heart almost stopped when that happened,” the woman with brittle bones told me later.
“I was suddenly entrusted with the huge responsibility of ensuring that the tiny creature did not fall off my lap,” she added.
I could understand her excitement over her task perfectly.
It is not often when responsibilities are given to people with disabilities. This is sad because people still see us as “incapable” or “helpless”.
Looking after the puppy even if it was only for a brief period; helped my friend to feel useful and needed with the rest of the crowd.
The participant who benefited the most from the session I thought was a young man with cerebral palsy. The 26-year old resides with his single mother at the other end of Selangor.
With no transport, he rarely has a chance to go out and meet other people in wheelchairs like himself.
Our session was an excellent opportunity for him to do just that.
Despite his limited social opportunities, it was remarkable to see how friendly and easygoing he was in exploring the SPCA – from the office to the puppies and kitten areas.
In fact, one of the SPCA volunteers was so taken up by him that she offered to anonymously sponsor a brand new computer for the young man. This includes a teacher to arm him with basic computer knowledge.
His only pal, a mongrel also got lucky that day.
After learning that the mutt had come down with skin problems, the SPCA graciously decided to treat his four-footed friend for free in his home.
This includes sending a veterinarian over to inspect the dog. And also bring it to the SPCA if needed.
The young man is, not surprisingly, jobless.
On our part Petpositive will take up his case with the Welfare department so that he can qualify for the RM300 disability monthly allowance.
What is so unfortunate is that the allowance is given only to those who have jobs – whose income does not exceed RM1200 a month.
From what I understand (it is regretful that these things are never made clear) is that allowances for unemployed handicapped persons are decided on a case by case basis.
This is terribly unfair. How can persons who have no transport find jobs? What about bedridden persons?
They are that way not because they are lazy or deliberately want to be that way. But simply because the disabled in Malaysia unfortunately still live in a society that is very disabling and apathetic to their special needs.
The visit to the SPCA was also eye-opening for the non disabled.
Remarked SPCA Chairman Christine Chin after the event:
“We have held countless events at the SPCA but never anything quite like this!
“We not only thoroughly enjoyed the visit but felt particularly touched and healed that morning.
“The pleasure and smiles expressed on everyone’s faces coupled with the tail wags of our shelter’s residents said a thousand million words!”
The End
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