Tag Archives: Human rights

Day 489

There is no question that the bible can’t answer. – my maternal grandma

It’s 7: 29 PM on day 489 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, drink tea by myself, go to church – the sermon was titled Being right is not enough and was basically about how we shouldn’t exercise our freedoms and engage in things that give us pleasure if it means leading our fellow man astray– feed myself Batura and chicken curry for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, prepare and publish my Kid of the Week feature, feed myself pizza for lunch, hang out with my cousin’s kids, go visit some people and brush my teeth once more.

Today while at church I remembered the discussion I had with my grandma – my mother’s mother – about Christianity in which she asked me if I read the bible and I explained to her that I expressed my Christianity by helping others suffice to say she was disappointed and said something along the lines of your actions are admirable but you should read the bible there is no question the bible cannot answer so from today onwards in honour of my grandma I am going to read the bible– our church (the one that we go to here in South Africa) lists verses we should read every day of the week at the back of their notices I’ll read those first. Are you under the misconception that being Christian consists solely of going to church, reading the bible and praying?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 488

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How you define what you want can change your whole life– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 6: 05 PM on day 488 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, listen to music, sign the petition Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Allow the kidney transplant Amelia needs to survive – the hospital refuses to perform a kidney transplant on two-year-old Amelia because she’s ‘mentally retarded’ CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! I urge you to sign the petition (100 000 signatures is the goal so far we’ve got 4 095) (Note: This petition was started by Sunday of Extreme Parenthood who has two kids with autism –) thank you for caring Sunday – listen to some more music, watch TV and continue to listen to music.

As you all know I have accepted the fact that I Cerebral Palsy and moved on with my life although I have felt in the past that my life lacked adventure because of my physical limitations but now that I think about it I realize that all the things I would have done had I been able to walk – bungee-jumping, sky-diving – wouldn’t have given me as much joy as the things I’m doing now do I mean so what I can’t jump off a bridge or a plane I raised enough money – with the help of my friends around the world (thanks guys) – to build a well for a community somewhere in the world that lacks clean water and because of me there are twenty kids who have sandwiches to eat almost every weekend is there a greater adventure than knowing you’ve made a difference in the lives of others. Have you changed your whole life by changing the definition of the things that you want?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 487

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Our minds can protect us without us even knowing it– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 51 PM on day 487 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice typing with both hands feed myself sausages for breakfast, watch TV, tweet with people – I love talking to people from different walks of life – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch some more TV and go to my cousin’s mother-in-law’s memorial service.

Today I awoke to the sounds of my parents yelling at each other – my father was calling my mother bitch and saying that their wedding was nothing more than a ceremony – and while usually I would try to break up the fight by saying something like mom I need some water this time I just said – in my head – Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. added please don’t let Kevin – my eleven-year-old brother – wake up he doesn’t need to hear this and proceeded to transport myself –in my mind – to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Big Ben in London – whenever I’m faced with things that I would rather not hear or see I automatically disconnect my mind from my body so that when it’s over I can go with my life physiatrists and psychologists call it disassociation (Note to all my family members who might read this: it is not my intention to make mommy and daddy look bad I am just writing about my experience I can’t help that they were a part of that experience if you can’t understand that you are free to leave this blog and never return). Have you ever been in a situation where you had to jump out of your body for a while to protect your sanity?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 486

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Monsters live in the dark – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 27 PM on day 486 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice typing with both hands – I sent out some tweets about water so I killed two birds with one stone 🙂 – feed myself custard for breakfast, exercise for a few minutes, watch TV, tweak this blog, feed myself spaghetti bolognaise for lunch, continue to tweak this blog, watch some more TV, feed myself bread and beef curry for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday I went to the dentist to get a root canal thinking I would be in a world of pain during and after the procedure and when I got there it was a bit of an anti-climax – the dentist numbed my gum (that was a bit painful) and after that all I felt was the pressure from her – the dentist – digging around in my tooth (if all goes well I’ll have a permanent filling put in on Tuesday and that will be the end of that) – just goes to show imaginations can scare our us more than any procedure can. Do you often make a big deal out of nothing?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 485

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For every pleasure you enjoy, you must suffer some pain. We had a fabulous vacation, but it’s going to take us years to pay for it. Oh, well, there’s no pleasure without pain. Yesterday I basked in the warm sunshine all afternoon; today I’m badly sunburned. There is no pleasure without pain. – Author unknown

It’s 12: 51 PM on day 485 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a boiled egg for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweak a few things on this blog, practice typing with both hands and watch TV.

As you may know I went to the dentist to get rid of the black spot on my tooth – I fell down a couple of stairs a few years ago and my tooth has been black ever since – before I went to India unfortunately it turned out an abscess had formed and the dentist said I had one of two options either I could have the tooth removed – I decided not to do that no way would I get a false tooth at the age of twenty – or I could get a root canal so today afternoon I am getting a root canal which needless to say doesn’t send tears of joy running down my face but that’s life I guess, we have to take the pleasure with the pain (Note: I apologize in advance if I don’t post for the next two days I might be in pain after the root canal which would make it impossible for me to write anything you would want to read). Are you willing to take the pain along with the pleasure or would you rather take the pleasure and leave the pain?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 484

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Sometimes in the process of establishing your identity you can make those around you feel rejected or not needed – that’s what I learned today.

It’s 6: 53 PM on day 484 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a banana for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice typing with both hands, change my Twitter background, Facebook picture and start making a blog button with graphics made for me by Margot, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV, continue making a blog button and feed myself spaghetti bolognaise for dinner.

Yesterday my dad stayed over at my uncle’s – my uncle was out of town and somebody needed to stay with my grandma – and my brother was at a sleepover at my cousin’s house so my mother decided that she would sleep in my room – my sister was sleeping in her own room – I had a complete meltdown and blurted out I feel so claustrophobic I need some space because by doing that my mom was saying I don’t believe you can sleep by yourself and be okay looking back now I can still see how hurt she was when she left to go sleep in her own bed and can understand why she probably felt rejected by me when I said I need some space while all I was trying to do by saying that was assert my independence. Are you establishing your identity at the expense of your relationships?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 483

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Praise with abandon and criticize sparingly – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 06 PM on day 483 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a boiled egg for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice typing with both my hands, watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, upload a new banner to this blog and watch some more TV.

As you know I don’t take kindly to any sort of discrimination and I am quick to rip apart any person or company that discriminates but today I am taking the opportunity to thank Target – an American chain store – for using kids with Down Syndrome as models in their nationwide campaign and not making a big fuss about it … YAY Target (Note: I came across this story on Sun-Beams: January 8, 2012). Do you praise with abandon and criticize sparingly or criticize with abandon and praise sparingly?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 482

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The best time to restart is now– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 6: 47 PM on day 482 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, prepare and publish my Kid of the Week feature, listen to music, feed myself rice and curry for lunch and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck.

As you know I took a break from learning how to do new things while I was in India but I’m back now and ready to tick off new things on my lists (see below) so that I can live out all my dreams. Is your life on permanent pause?

Things I need to do to become physically independent

• To brush my teeth – partially achieved – I can brush my teeth just fine but I need someone to help me lean over the sink so that the toothpaste ends up in the sink and not all over my shirt.

 To sign my name on a document – achieved.

• To type with both hands

• To eat and drink by myself – partially achieved can eat with a spoon and drink from a mug and glass I can’t yet eat with a fork and knife.

• To push myself around on my wheelchair

• To get in and out of bed by myself

• To go to the bathroom by myself

• To bathe myself

• To undress and redress myself

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 481

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If you’re running someone else race you’ll always come out second best – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 15 PM on day 481 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself egg sandwich and strawberries for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck –listen to music – God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton is my new favorite song (see lyric video below) – feed myself rice and curry for lunch and go visit my aunt.

Last night two of my parents’ colleagues – a married couple from our community – came to visit and as per usual all the lady’s attention was on my sister asking her if she was ready for her last year of high school the best I got was did you enjoy India but as I watched them talking I realized that my sister would always get more attention because she was doing everything that Indians expected of a seventeen-year-old while people would always think of me as a nobody because I chose to break the mould and make a difference having said that I don’t regret the life I’m living my sister and I are on completely different paths she’s living the life God planned for her and I’m living the life God planned for me… it was never meant to be a competition. Are you putting yourself in a position to be runner-up all your life?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 480

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Everything is part of a bigger plan…nothing happens at random – that’s what I learned today 🙂

it’s 7: 52 PM on day 480 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to watch TV, brush my teeth, drink pineapple juice – from a glass – by myself, try to add a custom header on this blog made for me by my friend, Margot – I gave her the wrong size by mistake and now it doesn’t fit – prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself rice and curry for lunch and read Love That Max, Chasing Rainbow and Bird on the Street.

Today I looked back on my twenty five days in India and realized that going to a country where there is so much stigma around disabled people and having to say to people there’s nothing wrong with me every time they pitied me has made me more confident than ever in myself. Do you walk in faith believing that everything that happens is for the best or question every experience?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!