No walk in the park, but it was intense fun -Anthony Thanasayan
- Details
- Created on Thursday, 06 November 2014 07:00
- Published Date
- Written by Anthony Thanasayan
- Category: Columnist
A PICNIC IN THE PARK idea sounds like great and wholesome fun for the entire family.
However, when you organise something
like that, and invite people with disabilities to tag along, the
excitement only gets more intense.
That is exactly what a total of 66
families did - and, pleasantly discovered - when they decided to
celebrate 'World Cerebral Palsy (CP) Day' on October 11, last month.
As a result, the event held at Taman
Tasik Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur turned out to be an extraordinary
affair for people with disabilities and their caregivers.
World CP Day is annually observed on the first Wednesday of October.
This year, the special day fell on
October 1, Wednesday, but the organisers of the event - 'Malaysian
Advocates for Cerebral Palsy' or 'MyCP' - decided to move it to a week
later.
They held it on a Saturday in order to draw in more people.
It was clearly a good decision,
considering the fact that more than 500 participants turned up for the
half-day session which started at 8.30am and finished just before
lunchtime.
In addition to adults with physical
disabilities and children in wheelchairs and their families, others
present included healthcare professionals from a variety of backgrounds.
There were doctors, therapists, lecturers, students, volunteers and even a celebrity chef to show their support.
Cerebral palsy is a physical condition
involving the permanent tightening of the muscles caused by damage to
the brain around or before the time of birth. 'Spastic' is the former
term used for persons with CP.
The event was declared open by Datin
Paduka Dr Tunku Taayah, a private medical consultant involved in the
work of rehabilitation of disabled persons.
Dr Taayah brought the crowd up to speed on the many challenges faced by individuals with CP in the country today.
These include the importance of
maintaining good health, keeping abreast of the latest developments in
CP and finding a job in order to be self-supporting.
She also mentioned that local
authorities need to urgently create a disabled-friendly environment.
This is to help disabled Malaysians to integrate with the rest of
society.
The rehabilitation specialist stressed
that parent caregivers of disabled children need to work with the
government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). They also need to
work together with healthcare professionals so that their children
suffering from CP can have a higher quality of life.
"The spirit of our event was to
highlight the fact to everyone that children with CP possess the same
desire and passion as any non-disabled children," pointed out Dr Sazlina
Kamaralzaman, the chairman of MyCP - a two-year-old NGO presently based
in Klang in the state of Selangor. (MyCP will be moving to Bangi,
Selangor next month).
"Since
one of the key issues for children with CP is constantly trying out
evolving, innovative inventions which enhance the children's ability to
perform daily tasks, MyCP took the opportunity to invite Polytechnic
Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah in Shah Alam to introduce its
specially-designed chair for children with CP. The invention helps them
to sit down with special support whilst performing their activities,"
added Dr Sazlina.
It was developed as part of the students’ project in the wood-based technology unit of the polytechnic, she further explained.
Dr Sazlina, who is lecturer at the
School of Rehabilitation Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences at
University Kebangsaan Malaysia in Bangi, stressed that the Picnic in the
Park event would not have been achieved without the support of parents
who have children with disabilities.
"The hard work put in by the parents who are committee members of MyCP was remarkable.
"It began with a humble idea from a
mother to invite fellow committee members for a picnic at the park,
potluck items included, and to use balloons to raise awareness about our
work in MyCP.
"We shared it with a few other friends
and the idea simply spread like wildfire. Soon, everyone in our Facebook
wanted to join our cause, including first-time visitors."
Dr Sazlina pointed out that the idea of
celebrating together with children and adults with CP - and creating a
bond between parents with disabled children and other parents by giving
them an opportunity to come together at a big and happy occasion -
created a lot of positivity.
She said that they knew of two mothers
who had come with their disabled children from as far as Miri in
Sarawak, just to enjoy the celebratory atmosphere, and they realised
they no longer had to hide their children just because they had
disabilities.
"Although we managed to take a lot of
pictures that special morning and captured the moments, it was nothing
like being there yourself to take in everything!" concluded Dr Sazlina.
For more information on the work of MyCP, please visit it on Facebook at the following address: https://www.facebook.com/mycpmalaysia
The aNt.
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