Rawan's story: Never let a disability define you

Friday, April 29, 2016

Walking through the main street of one Palestinian refugee camp in the suburbs of Beirut, it’s hard to imagine how anyone can live here. The camp resembles an urban slum. The densely populated buildings are run down with water pipes and electricity wires crisscrossing each other outside the entrance of many homes. 

Fatima, 32, mother-of-two sighs as she shares how difficult life is in the camp. “Life is miserable here. It’s depressing. We’ve got a drug dealer who lives across the road and a brothel house below us,” she says. “There are lots of kidnapping and sexual assault cases in the neighbourhood but I have nowhere else to go. If I could, I would go elsewhere, especially for the safety of my kids.”

Fatima is particularly concerned for her youngest daughter, Rawan. Smiling and constantly giggling, her positivity is contagious. Underneath the smile, however, is a young child who’s been through a lot of hardship. 

Rawan, 8, was born without a knee on her left leg, which means one leg is significantly shorter than the other one. Over the past eight years, Rawan has had six surgeries but the family was never able to afford a prosthetic leg for her. On top of that, she’s also wearing a back brace to help with her posture. “I feel sad because I know that my daughter’s condition has a cure. She just needs to have a lot of surgeries to complement her growth, but each operation costs $15,000 USD,” Fatima sighs. “I’ve already had to postpone two operations because of money, but that further delays Rawan’s recovery period.”

As a mother, it’s been painful watching her daughter’s struggles from afar. Every day when Rawan is in school, she would go over during recesses and lunch breaks to help her use the bathroom. The toughest part, however, is hearing other children make fun of her daughter. “People started pointing at her and said ‘look at her legs’. I know Rawan hates it. She always says to me ‘please take us away...we don’t like it here’. She simply doesn’t understand why people are always comparing and looking at her disability in a different way,” adds Fatima.

One day, Fatima was invited to attend an introductory session hosted by Mousawat, World Vision Lebanon’s local partner in Beirut, on ways to create a more inclusive environment for children with disabilities.  When she saw the director of Mousawat sitting in a wheelchair, her perspective on disability changed immediately.

“I didn’t know the director was also disabled,” she says. “After seeing him, I realised that my daughter will be okay.” Since then, she’s enrolled Rawan into the New Education Perspectives for Children with Special Learning Needs programme targeted specifically for children with disabilities and learning difficulties.

For the first time in her life, Rawan has a chance to be exposed to other children who have similar disabilities as her. “Rawan got a big boost to her self-esteem and realised that she could do anything that other kids can do,” adds Fatima. “She’s always been prone to positivity and happiness and never looked down on herself but after these sessions, it’s really strengthened her will.”

According to Fatima, Rawan's highlight was watching a puppet show teaching children about tolerance and acceptance to those with a disability. “Rawan at times felt ridiculed, humiliated and made to feel minuscule,” remembers Fatima. “Through the play, it’s given her hopes as to how others could see her in another light.”

Last Christmas, World Vision Lebanon raised around USD1,500 to give Rawan a prosthetic leg. For the first time in her life, she was able to walk without her crutches - something which she never thought would be possible. “After she got the prosthetic leg, Rawan was so excited that she wanted to go to the market and buy a pair of shoes immediately,” says Fatima. “Although sometimes kids still call her the ‘three-legged person’ at least she can now confidently say ‘that’s my business’. The surgeons even said the reason why she’s had such a speedy recovery is because of her strong will.”

It’s incredible looking at Rawan laughing despite the challenges she’s faced in the past. She has never once let this disability define her. Thanks to the EU-Palestinian project on the “New Education Perspectives for Children with Special Learning Needs” implemented by World Vision, children like young Rawan is now able to continue to reach her full potential.