Work of Special Hands

Eleven Million people were murdered in the Holocaust, that’s what history tells us. To this day, I can’t imagine how such a genocide could have happened in such a manner. The murdered people came from different parts of society—one of which was the disabled.

My sister Aie brought me home from Germany—where she attended a three-week conference—a special pasalubong (arrival gift). It’s a cell phone case.

What is so special about it? It looks like a fabric pouch anybody can make.

Well, it was not made just by anybody. It was made by special hands—hands of people with Down Syndrome. They (and other disabled people), Aie said, are very important in Germany and are part of mainstream society. The government takes care of them so they could be as productive as any citizen. They are nurtured, schooled, trained, and employed!

Knowing I am writing a book on people with disability (PWD), Aie bought my cell phone case from a place called Werraland, where all the workers have Down Syndrome. Those she got to talk to were conversant, adept at, and mighty proud of what they do.

Germany today has many factories or plants that employ only PWD. These shops are suppliers to big companies. Yes, workplaces for PWD are institutionalized. And the working conditions are tailor-fitted to their needs. However you want to call it—reparation, atonement, guilt-trip, or apology for what was done during the Nazi regime—it is something other countries, ours included, need to emulate soon.

I will keep this treasure within touching distance as grace enables me to continue writing about the PWD, their needs and their right to the same quality of life able-bodied/normal people enjoy.