Tag Archives: Human rights

Day 478

It takes just as much time to fix something as it does it to complain– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 41 PM on day 478 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, watch TV, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – mostly sent thank you tweets in reply to the congratulatory tweets people sent me yesterday for reaching my goal – prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself rice and curry for lunch and take a nap– I wasn’t feeling well.

As you may know I recently went to India from twenty five days – if you have no idea what I’m taking about refer to posts Day 451-Day 475 – to visit my mother’s side of the family and while there I felt the full force of the ignorance of the population people stared, whispered, asked is that the ‘sick’ child with me in the same room and the only time I cried was at night thinking about all the children who lived there who are locked away somewhere not being allowed to dream in that moment I knew I had to do something to create change and realized that God made me disabled so that I could make the lives of other disabled people better so today I’m making a commitment to using my social media platforms – Facebook and Twitter – to raise awareness about different disabilities in countries like India where people don’t have much exposure to people who are different. Do you spend your time fixing or complaining?

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 477

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Perseverance pays off –that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 41 PM on day 477 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, practice sitting properly – my core muscles are weaker than those of average people so I have to practice sitting straight in my wheelchair – watch TV, feed myself scrambled eggs – with a fork – for breakfast, drink Coke Zero – from a grass – by myself, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – Carolyn (@carpathia16) made a $200 donation on 12/31/2011 and Chrissy (@ChrissyPappas) made a $1 111.11 today – thanks guys you two are part of the reason I reached my goal three months early 🙂 – watch I Don’t Know How She Does It – a movie which portrays the challenges facing working mothers in an honest but humorous light staring Sarah Jessica Parker – at the Hemingways Mall, and eat Ice-cream with my sister, her friend and her friend’s parents

This morning I logged on to my Firstgiving page to find that I surpassed my fundraising goal –my target was $6 500 I’ve raised $7 256 so far – I am keeping the page open until 3 March 2012 – the closing date of the page- so that people who have yet to donate can have the opportunity to do so – needless to say I was delighted and wondered what would have happened if I gave up all the times I wanted to just goes to show that you should never ever give up. Do you persevere in every aspect of your life or give up when the going gets tough?

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 450

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The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~ St. Augustine

It’s 3: 21 PM on day 450 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Corn Flakes for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck –feed myself rice and curry for lunch and watch TV

As you may know I’m going to India tomorrow so sadly this is my last post until January 2, 2012 but no fear I will be writing every day while I’m there it’s just that I won’t be able to publish the posts until I return to South Africa – getting an internet connection at my dad’s house might prove to be a hassle – and if that isn’t enough to satisfy you I’ve asked my friends, Jenelle and Holly, to write posts on Guest Posts by Jenelle Ramsami and Guest Posts by Holly Gardner respectively every day while I’m away. Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year to you and yours I hope Santa gives you everything you asked for 🙂

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 449

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You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 20 PM on day 449 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Corn Flakes for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself a banana for lunch, take a nap – I’m not feeling well at all – and watch TV.

This morning as I looked out our dining room window at the beautiful trees and flowers in our yard I couldn’t help thinking how much I would miss South Africa when I’m in India don’t get me wrong I can’t wait to see my family over there it’s just that the people here are so nice whenever I go to the mall people come up to me and say you look very pretty today or smile my favorite moment was at church when this woman came up to me and my mom with her toddler and said I hope you don’t mind I wanted to expose my son to people who are different from an early age some of you may wonder why I wasn’t offended by that I wasn’t offended by that because exposure leads to education and education leads to the eradication of ignorance. Do you always think the grass is greener on the other side?

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 448

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It doesn’t matter what people say as long as you know your intention – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 17 PM on day 448 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck –listen to music, watch TV and feed myself vegetables for dinner.

Yesterday I saw a cousin of mine and the first thing he said to me as a joke was could you pass me a few dollars I know you’ve got a pyramid scheme going which really bothered me although I laughed it off because here I was struggling to do the simplest of things while trying to help others without stealing or lying and it was all just a big joke to him but now I realize that I shouldn’t care about what other people think or say to me because they don’t know the intentions behind my actions almost everything I say and do comes from a place of love, compassion and a desire to help. Do the comments people make weigh heavily on your heart regardless of the fact that you know the intention behind your action?

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 447

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Children need mothers not martyrs – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 56 PM on day 447 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Uppumavu – an Indian dish made of rava. The name is an amalgam of two words : “salt” and “flour – with banana for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, prepare and publish my Kid of the Week feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – go visit my grandma at my uncle’s house – I drank juice by myself there one of the proudest moments of my life :)- watch No Greater Love – a movie about love, forgiveness and faith – on DVD, listen to music and tweet about my campaign some more– still no luck.

This morning everybody wanted to go shopping and I didn’t so I suggested to my mother that they leave me with our housekeeper which she reluctantly agreed to but kept saying I’m only going because they need to use my credit card as she walked out the door and it struck me how guilt-ridden she was so to her and all the parents out there I say your kids need mothers not martyrs they don’t want you to sacrifice your whole life for them they want you to be happy because seeing you happy gives them permission to be happy. Are you a mother or a martyr?

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 446

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People who are different are treated differently but that is not necessarily a bad thing depending on how you look at it – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 40 PM on day 444 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, go see a dentist – a few years ago I accidentally fell down the stairs at my aunt’s house and as I result of that my bottom-middle tooth turned black and I was hoping to get it fixed but all I got was a cleaning because I have an infection which has to clear before I can get a root canal which is necessary to remove the black spot on my tooth so it looks like I’ll be getting a root canal on January 11, 2012 (we can’t do before then because it takes five days for the infection to clear, we’re going to India on December 8 2011 and the dentist only returns from her holiday on January 10, 2012) whoopi something to look forward to in the new year – feed myself Batura and beef fry for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck today but Donna (@polipaca) made a $26.92 donation yesterday –thanks Donna 🙂 – feed myself barbecued mutton, salad and potato salad for lunch and watch TV.

This morning when I went to visit the dentist and a dentist – not the one who treated me (a guy old enough to be my grandfather) – said hi, I said hi then he walked over to me and gave me a kiss on the forehead which I would have been offended by in the past thinking I don’t see him kissing anyone else in the waiting room on the forehead (ok I did think that in the beginning) but today I realized how lucky I was to experience the best of humanity for the most part I’ll be it it’s because they think I’m fragile but still. Do you always take things the wrong way?

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 445

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I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way. – Whitney Houston

It’s 6: 51 PM on day 445 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, drink coffee by myself, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself French fries for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck –feed myself French fries and carrots for lunch, watch TV and tweet about my campaign some more– still no luck.

A few days ago my brother was watching Legion of Superheroes – his new favorite cartoon – and I looked at him and said you can be a hero too all you have to do is do good remembering that today I smiled because I know that I have planted the seeds of kindness and compassion in him. Are you teaching the children in your life that there’s a hero inside every one of them?

Gratitude Weekly December 2, 2011

Thank you God for always being here for me.
Thank you mommy for helping me do things I have not yet learned how to do.
Thank you daddy for paying for everything I need.
Thank you Neethu –my sister – for kicking me in the butt when I feel sorry for myself.
Thank you Kevin –my brother – for carrying the laptop from the bedroom to the dining room every morning so that I can use it.
Thank you Amanda – our housekeeper – for helping me when mommy and daddy are at work.
Thank you Tilla Brook, Christian Hollingsworth, Maria Savva, Brian Elliot, Chris, Kaiju, Tommy Jameson and Leslie Ramos for retweeting about my campaign.
Thank you Patricia Singleton, Justina Valentine, RockstarsTribe, Brian Elliot, Colette Caddle, Amy Hale, Stan Faryna Susan Mazza, Samantha Bangayan, Jenelle Ramsami, M. Illani Manshoor, M. Faizan, Laura and Scott S. Cooper for tweeting/retweeting links to my blog posts.

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 444

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Your state of being is not determined by the past or the present but rather the hopes you have for the future – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 20 PM on day 444 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, redesign my sidebar – now you can listen to some of my favorite songs thanks to the Cincopa plugin, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV, feed myself spaghetti with sauce for dinner – I got spaghetti stuck up my nose which was scary at first but funny after I blew a spaghetti strand out of my nose LOL – and brush my teeth once more.

Today I was in the bathroom and my mother came in to help me change and stuff and the whole time she was there I just kept thinking it won’t be like this forever, it won’t be like this forever, it won’t be like this forever because if I thought I would need help changing at the age of forty I wouldn’t have the strength to carry on and that I guess is my message to you guys know that whatever you’re going through will pass and if you need to say it to yourself over and over again. Are the clouds in your sky as dark as the night because you think whatever you’re going through will last forever?

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 443

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Every experience is an opportunity to teach and learn – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 6: 35 PM on day 443 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself an egg sandwich for lunch, watch TV and feed myself steamed vegetables for dinner

As you may know my family and I are leaving for India on 8 December 2011 and although I’m excited to see my maternal grandmother (I haven’t seen her in person in ten years) as our departure date draws closer I am getting more and more anxious about how people there are going to react to me (my father’s generation and the one before his are not very accepting of people who are different – gay/lesbian, different color, disabled etc –) but I have decided to look at it as an opportunity to educate people I have a feeling they think people who are different are worth less than they are and if by the time I return to South Africa I can change just one person’s mind about that I will have done my job. Do you look to teach and learn in every situation you are put in?

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!