Disability: Moving beyond Stereotypes
Disabled, though the nomenclature had changed to 'differently abled', continue to suffer due to deep rooted, though superstitious beliefs of their families and society. But undaunted by constraints they face, a band of men and women pick up the gauntlet to give them a place in the sun
Nicholas Francis, (second from right), interacts with the students
As I walked along the streets of Madurai, I saw some of the most beautiful sights in my life. Also, I saw the struggle and perseverance of some unfortunate people whose lives these were stories of tragedy. As I walked, I saw people with obvious mental problems and those without limbs on the streets with no support. This inspired me to find out more about the lives of the disabled and what sustains them. So I met several inspiring people: S.M.A. Jinnah, founder of IAB (Indian Association for the Blind) School, Nicholas Francis, founder of one of the most successful blind libraries in India, Amutha Shanty and Selvam, from the Thiyagam Women’s Trust, Dr. R. Vikram, a Psychiatrist at Ahana Hospitals, and K.S.P.Janardhan Babu, Assistant Director at the M.S.Chellamuthu Trust & Research Foundation for the mentally disabled.
After meeting these incredible people who do everything they can to help those who were victims of terrible circumstances, I was dumbfounded and at the same time inspired to an unimaginable degree. I found that these people, as well as others, do more than I could ever expect to help the disabled in and around Madurai, particularly since things are always more complicated then they seem, especially in a developing society. Yet, even with lack of funding, support and being met with hostility from the society, these people, undaunted will not give up trying to make the lives of the disabled better. But there is still a long way to go.
Achievements of the past, struggles of the present
Every single person I spoke to, said exactly the same thing, that in the changing times of the 21st Century awareness of these organizations have grown, and more and more people have been coming in seeking help. For instance, the Thiyagam Women’s Tust has helped nearly 3,000 disabled women and village children through its work and education programs since it was established in 2004, and IAB now has over 300 pupils in colleges
Dr. R. Vikram
“There are lots of families today who are reluctant to bring their affected loved ones for psychiatric care. They prefer to use ‘spiritual healing’ methods; and bring them having failed.”
Awareness is only one part of giving these people the opportunity to get hope, as shattering stereotypes have posed a huge challenge for all these organizations. These stereotypical attitudes are held by family members of the disabled, and they apply them not only to the individual who needs help but also to these organizations. Dr. R. Vikram says “There are lots of families today who are reluctant to bring their affected loved one for psychiatric care. They prefer to use ‘spiritual healing’ methods; and bring them having failed.” With regard to the mentally disabled, religious and spiritual methods are thought to cure the disease, yet for the physically disabled it’s a different story.
Nicholas Francis told me that “Families who have a blind child do not like to admit it. In a lot of cases, they keep the children locked up or chained and throw food to them.” This is also true of the physically disabled women whom the Thiyagam trust helps. This dark truth has stifled these programs from helping these less fortunate people, but thankfully things are beginning to change. All people I spoke to say that the mentality of the public is slowly changing. All of these organizations are finding more cases voluntarily coming to them for help, but as Selvam from the Thiyagam Trust says, “This is only a small dent in breaking the society’s stereotypes.
Despite these struggles, the organizations are facing, they have not just helped the disabled, but given them a life that they would never dream of having otherwise. While I was at Nicholas Francis’s blind library, there was a group of about 20-30 students, all of them either laughing or working hard. One of the girls there, who is now doing her teaching degree, tells me: “Without this, my dreams would never be realised. I never thought of going to university let alone becoming a teacher. This gave me a new life.” This is just one out of the thousands of students the organization has helped across Tamil Nadu. But even though these organizations still have a long way to go, they have also come a long way with the constraints they have.
Another problem they have faced is that of funding: although some organizations receive money from the government, most rely on donations and sponsors. The perseverance and determination the organization and the individuals have shown, despite the difficulties faced financially and with the society, is truly heartwarming and an inspiration to everyone.
There are 6-10% of people in India, born with physical disabilities according to the UNO, but the government census puts it down to only 2-4%. This is due to the fact that people are still ashamed to admit when a family member is disabled, and there are several campaigns whose aim is to tell people to provide proper details for census, so that disabled people can get the help they need. Continuing to raise awareness is still a struggle that all of them are facing, as well as the discrimination prevalent in the society, although they all believe that awareness will slowly break these stereotypes Mr. K.S.P.Janardhan Babu told me with regard to mentally ill patients that “The message we are trying to give to the public through our awareness programs is that the illness is preventable, it is curable and it is treatable.” This doesn’t only apply to the mentally ill. The ethos of all these organizations is to show the public that these individuals are not a burden, but rather deserve a equal place in the society to everyone else.
Entrance to the Thiyagam Women Trust
“No, we don’t belong here, we don’t want to belong here, we belong in the society, we want to work among other people equally and not be treated as second class people. As much as this school has given to us, it is its own world, not the real one that’s out there.”
I shall never forget one of the interviews, where I asked a group of students from the IAB blind school, whether they felt that they belonged there. They replied: “No, we don’t belong here, we don’t want to belong here, we belong in the society, we want to work among other people equally and not be treated as second class people. As much as this school has given to us, it is its own world, not the real one that’s out there.”
My opinion after seeing these organizations is that there is no drastic change that needs to be done to further help the less fortunate, but they must keep up their perseverance in order to help more people. After achieving so much already in the past decade, (and for some even less) the struggles they faced then, still persist and yet the walls put in front of them are surely but slowly breaking.
Students from IAB
Conclusion
It is impossible to put into words, the amount of feeling in the hearts of these organizations and the people who are part of them. I feel it is unfair trying to put the amount of work these organizations do and how far these people with disabilities have come into a two page spread. I believe that this is a part of the society that needs to be more strongly emphasized, for the people I met in these programs were some of the most passionate people I have ever met, and they deserve a chance and a real life. My hope is that these organizations continue with their work and break the stereotypes that are imposed upon these individuals, because if they cannot do that, then nothing will change.
