How I came to know the first woman I will feature in "Disability In My Village"?

Coming back from my last posting I don't know what I will do with my free time. I know I will have a lot as there was no prospect of work available, so I have to be creative.

I wrote to some people I knew to find out who's who in the disability sector where I live. I was told that there is a federation existing but there was no one in particular from my municipality. Where I live is the first town of the province of Laguna -- San Pedro City. It's a newly minted city, only last December, so it seems like there's a lot of promise in the future but there's no organization for people with disability, or so I thought.

Madam C, my contact from the national, later gave me a name of a woman who uses a wheelchair - Ms. L, but she was not very receptive when I said who I was and what I want to find out. Her exact words were \"I don't like to belong to any group, they are so messy, only mostly talking but no action\". I can't blame her, though her story is also very interesting but being an advocate is not something she wants to be let alone speak about the issues around disability.

I met many people like that, both with and without disability and I don't blame them. Most of the time it's true from my experience. The members and those that are supposed to help are consumed by the idea of getting together, socializing and that's it. If there's no money involved, many play the \"I cannot go because I have no money for transport\" game so they don't come and support any advocacy and activities for them that is supposed to be led by people with disabilities themselves. Or others continue to play the game of \"they are disabled, they need charity\" ... a big BS!

But I also know that there are those that are truly open to new ideas, hungry for support and are willing to get out of their way to advocate and to share ideas when you are lost. These are the people with disabilities that I know can be movers and shakers of the future.

After having several exchanges with Ms. L, I realized I have to find another resource person, she gave me a name and where I could find her. I got creative, but also clueless with the different acronym used to describe different department, project etc. -- yes NGO loves ABC in their work so is the government. I contacted again Madam C to confirm what department I should contact if I wanted to find out the Focal Person for the Disability Affairs. I was given the name Ms. Myra.

Ms. Myra will be the first woman I am going to talk about in my weekly post on disability in my village.

Next Tuesday, November 11, I will provide you her story and images of her work as the focal person for the disability affairs for people with disability in San Pedro City. An exceptional young lady.

Watch out for it.

I wish you a good day / night and hope all are keeping warm.