Friday, January 24, 2014

I have a dream / Part 2 :)

For the ones who does not know, I've found about Camphill a while ago and started sending e-mails to the Camphills all around the world immediately. I asked about building a Camphill place in Turkey. Luckily I received answers from Canada, from Charles Kyd by the help of Lisa Hopper. Charles mentioned the subject at global Camphill meetings and suggested me to get in connect with Maria Mountain who is the editor of Camphill Correspondence. Maria answered my e-mails and accepted to publish my article when I mentioned my dream and ideas. The idea is to reach other people who share the same dream with me about Turkey. So we planted the seeds all together with these lovely people..Now all I wish is to be discovered by people who is as enthusiastic as me, so that we can build this magical place in Turkey all together .

By the help of this article, I've been receiving lovely e-mails from several Camphill schools in Europe; they are inviting me to see the environment and be a part of it. Hopefully I'll join one of them. And I received a special phone call today that really gave me hope. I'll tell you about it later after I make some progress about it :)

To learn about Camphill more, please check the Wikipedia link below. You can also see a list of all Camphill Communities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camphill_Movement

Here is my article that is published in Camphill Correspondence January/February Issue:
I HAVE A DREAM..
I have a dream since I noticed that my sister is different than the other children.

The most difficult part was to perceive what this difference actually is; what it implies for my life and for my little sister. I was trying to figure it out whether being different is bad, it is something we need to hide..I was curious whether it will change our lifes completely and I was not sure whether I should feel sad, or not. My list of questions was mounting every day. In the coming days, I come to understand that my sister’s condition is going to be with us for a long time. Instead of thinking my home works and my own ‘coming to age’ problems, I devoted my energy to ask millions of difficult questions about my sister’s condition.

In addition to the boiling questions and anxieties in my own mind, I was also disturbed to see things are changing and changing fast with my parents. Both of them radically changed after the little baby was born. It wasn't the baby that changed them as much as it was the thoughts they were gathering from the society, the pessimistic examples they were encountering in the medical history. It was 90s and the research on Down Syndrome was very new to Turkey. Both my mom and dad felt helpless and did not know where to ask for help. They were sad and very worried.

If the situation were only for a month, or a year, or even for couple years, we would have easily accepted it. We would have devoted ourselves to diminish my little sister’s sufferings, to train and educate her and to dream about the days that she participates in life just like her other peers. Yet, we had no hope, not a glimpse of it whatsoever. The Medical research has proved time and again that the possibility of improvement in Down Syndrome is very very slim. So started our experimental lives. We were experimenting with our emotions, trying to make sense what is awaiting us in this long journey.Some days were surprising; some days were normal; and some days were just like unbearably hopeless that we did nothing but felt pity for ourselves: “why did it happen to us”?

As the days passed, our pessimism is replaced by a love for my little sister. I do not remember how this actually happened, but we started believing there is a reason we have this special baby. May be, it was an opportunity for us to experience fear and anxiety and may be, I thought, I can do something for other people, families who are going through the pain and fear of the unknown.

I have a 23 years old sister who has Down Syndrome. She is living in a Southern city called Mersin in Turkey. She's enrolled at a special school where the only thing they usually learn about is painting. I know she can do more. She loves dancing and she loves music. She can hear the rhytms better than most people can. I know I am a bit late, but it took me a while to internalize the concept of being different and understanding that every person, every soul whether she/he has a disability, or not, needs to discover his/her own skills to live a life in productivity by using these skills.

In our case, and I think in most of the cases, the most difficult part was feeling hopeless. If at that point we knew that my little sister have a chance to live a relatively easy and happy life, our lives would not appear that dark and gloomy. I wish I knew by then Down Syndrome kids have many talents and skills waiting to be discovered and trained. They can actually enjoy working on talents and have chances to produce something good for themselves and for the world. We did not know that than, and I believe it is the lesson that life wanted us to learn. Now, I want to do something to educate parents that Down Syndrome kids do not have to be locked in their homes. They can be part of life, just is everybody else. They can contribute to something, and they can more importantly feel happy, gratified and rewarded.

It might not be as difficult and bad as it was 23 years ago right now. There are a few better schools and charities working with the children with disabilities. Yet, my sister's future is still making me worried; There is still a lot that needs to be done in Turkey.

I found out about Camphill while I was making an Internet research to see whether somebody has already realized my dream about a place catered towards Down Syndrome kids. I was looking for a magical place where all the people living there are devoted, charming and hopeful. I dreamed a place where my sister can discover her skills and actually see that she can push her own boundaries for the better. A place where there aren't any disabilities; there are only differently enabled kids and adults living together in peace and harmony.

If there is any possibility for us to bring the beautiful village of yours to Turkey, that would be deeply change many kids lives.

I have many ideas that are building in my mind and many more questions as well. At that point I need your help and support. It's not important who you are or what you are doing. We can bring our ideas and hopes together and create a world where all people are valued equally for their different contributions. And we can chant that we are all the same and have the same rights - rights to make our choice to live a healthy, happy and social life in productivity.. We all deserve to feel that our existence is necessary for the universe.

I am also ready to be volunteered to contribute to one of the Camphill societies and experience this perfect environment if any of you would accept me even for a little while.

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