Please Grace, check if you have #20 there in your bag, bring it lets give this lady that is blind.

Fast-forward…the supposed blind lady politely rejected the money explaining that she wasn’t a beggar but was only standing by the roadside waiting for anyone to help her cross the busy road.

Dear reader, what and how has been our attitude towards persons with disabilities? In your immediate environment, how do you see that woman who uses a wheelchair to aid her to walk? What comes to mind when you come across either a deaf, blind, crippled or dumb person in between your daily activities?

Perhaps just like grace and her friend, you choose to offer them money. While you sometimes say a lot of prayer like curses on the alms you are about to give out or you decide to rub it all over your body before handing over the peanuts to the supposed beneficiaries.

Without confusing you, there are persons with or without disabilities who are beggars either by circumstances, ignorance, by compulsion or by choice, still this phenomenon currently trending in our society doesn’t portray every person with disabilities in the same light.

To start with, human creation by nature are sympathizers and sympathetic. Some readily have pity for one another especially in the face of troubles and adversities. We offer whatever is in our capacity in other to comfort and alleviate the suffering of the other person.

As human and humane this gesture seems, there is more to being sympathizers or sympathetic when it comes to persons with disabilities.

Ordinarily, these persons are regarded as absurdities within the communities. Even in places where they try to accommodate persons with disabilities, it is widely believed that these persons are liabilities, therefore they cannot be useful either to themselves or the society at large.

In the light of this, all they deserve from us is a little that can at least put something into their stomach not necessarily to paying attention with keen interest to how these ones could be a raw gold waiting to be refined into some really nice jewelries for all to see and, desire and cherish.

You may feel sad about these persons predicament but while we engage in those pity party, let’s take out time to see the brighter side of these ones in our society.

Sometimes all they need is just your concern and not money. You may decide to render financial help, please do not do so out of pity rather give your quota in contribution to their growth and development.

Let’s learn to tolerate them as an integral part of our society when given the opportunity possesses potential that could help make the universe a better and safer place for us to live in.

To crown it all up, see them as humans first before placing their respective disabilities into focus, this way regardless of their challenge, they seem to be just like you. Cheers!.