A Girl Like Me is Impossible to Find :)

Knowing Jane

It’s ironic how your world is enlightened by the presence of one who will probably never be able to see sunlight ever again. On 21 January, I met Jane – a visually impaired librarian at SAVH who gave me a hand in seeing the world in a brand new perspective, her perspective. Because Jane, like any of us, is as human as can be. And accompanying her to her destination home, I learnt more than what any book about visual impairment could teach. I learnt to accommodate another human being in my life, no matter how busy my life always is.

I learnt that shooting questions off like a machine gun confuses one – anyone, visually impaired or not. In my eagerness to absorb knowledge, I tend to forget that everyone’s brain processes at individual speeds…I learnt the importance of being specific.

I learnt that a visually handicapped person uses their cane to feel along the edge of a kerb in order to walk straight…and I learnt that in life, one always needs a guide to walk the straight path. Even for those who are not visually impaired.

I learnt that a visually handicapped person lives a life no less ordinary than anyone else. They work, they catch up with friends over dinner, they go home and settle into their own comfort zones, indulging in activities that they love. I learnt that each one of us is special and has our own personal space; we just express it and live it differently.

Knowing Jane, and after going through the ‘dining in the dark’ experience at SAVH, I learnt that one needs to live with trust – trust in true friends don’t desert you, trust that wherever you are , you are safe and Allah is watching over you, and trust that whatever you have, or have not, is a blessing in disguise, if only we are able to see it and hang on to it while it settles like fairy dust on our lives…

and I learnt that in order to live, I need to trust myself. That whatever journey I am on, I am living it with Allah’s blessings. And I shall embrace the opportunities that come along, with joy and sincerity.

Hence, I learnt that in order to accept one’s disability, one needs to trust in the fact that it is not a disability, but in fact, it is a stepping stone to climb up to success; personal success for oneself and for those around them. A leg up to make one soars high above.

And I shall remember how my world embraced a new perspective all over again, all thanks to an ordinary SAVH librarian named Jane.

posted by Siti Nuraishah @ 1:41 AM