Blindness no barrier for Stanley
By ALISON ANIS
PAPUA New Guinea will join the rest of the world today to commemorate the International Day for Disable People.
It is a time when rights of those living with disabilities is promoted and recognized through public appearances, awareness on motorcades and speeches.
Stanley Maeana from Koiari, Central province will be among those observing the day today.
Stanley in his late 30s is vision impaired and is an experienced physiotherapist, specializing in medical masseur at the Port Moresby General Hospital.
Stanley lost his eyesight on November 2, 1993. He says this was due to excessive consumption of alcohol.
“I remember going to an eye doctor for check up and him telling me that it won’t be possible for me to see again because the nerve surrounding the eyes that would enable me to see was completely destroyed.”
The news was a blow for Stanley at a young age.
“I felt completely lost. I just sat there not knowing what to do. I felt as though there was no future for me.”
“Suddenly all these thoughts started racing in my mind, about who was going to take care of me or how am I going to look after myself now that I am not able to see?”
However, hope and help was available for Stanley.
“In 1995 I was introduced to someone who told me about St John’s services for blind people. I decided to join the association (St John Association for Blind) to find out what help I could get.”
He was among seven other clients who joined the association that time and were taught Braille and other lessons using senses of hearing, tasting and smelling.
This went on for almost two years until Commissioner for St John’s Association for the Blind, Ruth Sangkol saw the need to train and teach them skills to get jobs.
In 1997 Mrs Sangkol attended a conference in Boston in the United States where she talked to some experts from Japan on the possibility to travel to PNG and train some of her clients on certain skills to help them get a job.
A volunteer from the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) arrived in the country on the same year to teach the clients different types of body masseur.
Stanley was selected among three others to participate in the programme.
“To me this was an opportunity of a lifetime because since I joined the association, I thought of nothing else but to find a job to help myself.”
He says the training consist of basic knowledge of the main parts of the body - the hand, neck shoulders, back, arms, fingers, palms, calf muscles, thighs and certain points where the pin/needle is planted firmly in the body using acupuncture.
“Our trainer was used as model during the training programme. He also told us to develop the habit of being patient all the time and not to be hard on our clients or patients,” Stanley says.
Stanley became a volunteer specializing in medical masseur with the PMGH’s Physiotherapy department in 2001 through the arrangement between St John and the hospital.
He worked for almost two years as volunteer and was so good in his job that the hospital decided to take him up permanently as full-time employee on payroll in early 2004.
“This was a real blessing for me after two years of volunteer work without pay. Now I realized I could make a living for myself despite my disability.”
Stanley works from 8am to 4pm and treats between seven to nine patients a day.
As well as regular clients, he has new patients coming in everyday.
“I work at the outpatient in the morning and shift to in-patient in the afternoons,” he said.
Stanley says he also does relaxation and sports massage.
Apart from the fortnightly earnings of K260 Stanley also has ‘off-duty’ job whereby some of his clients call him up and pick him up on weekends for massages.
“When I first started it was hard for me but I was working under a senior physiotherapist who was very helpful. Most of my patients go through medical check first by my bosses who then refer them to me.”
Stanley resides at Morata 2 and catches PMV each day by himself to and from work.
“When I travel I have a clear picture of the place in my mind and know when to stop when I’ve reached where I want to go,” he says.
The soft-spoken Stanley says he is happy to be working and does not view his disability to be a barrier anymore.
“When people see us, they only see a blind person. They don’t look at our ability. We despite our disability are nation-builders and can only prove our selves if we are given the same opportunities as everyone else.”
As a word of encouragement to people like himself Stanley says: “Never underestimate what you can do. It is a wrong attitude to sit back and expect things to happen for you or depend on other people to feed you especially when you know you have two feet to move around freely and hands to do something.”
Stanley said he sees himself as more than privileged and that it was his plan to teach others like himself to stand up on their own two feet and seek employment.
“If I can do it, I pretty sure anyone like me can. Nothing is impossible if hope is all you can hold on to.”
Stanley is also a gifted musician, he plays guitar and composes songs.
As one of the lyrics of the songs says: “Don’t look at my disability, but look at my ability. Let me freely explore obstacles I can avoid.”
Stanley has composed seven songs and plans on recording soon when he has saved enough money.
Stanley says, “I have not the gift of sight, but the ability to move and do things.”
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