We Are People
During Quarantine, I decided to attend an online course on Android Accessibility for the Blind. In the classes, I learned about how blind people navigate and use their Android phones through an application called Talkback. This is an accessibility app that acts as a screen reader for android phones. If a user were to touch a certain app icon, Talkback will say the name of the app. Gestures are also used to do specific functions such as bringing out the Notifications Shade and the Global Context Menu, this is a menu accessible through Talkback which allows the user to do specific functions. Aside from learning about Android phones, I learned something far more valuable in this training. Something that should not be forgotten.
PWDs are sometimes seen as people with physical or mental limitations. Some people see us as people who can't do much and this assumption gives us a certain disadvantage in some situations. But, there are those people who don't look at our defects first, rather, they look at our strengths and abilities and encourage us to push ourselves further. In the first day of training, we learned that we should not limit ourselves to the boundaries set by other people. We also learned that there are people who are ready to give us a hand in times of need and support us. These people are the ones who give us a chance.
Along with being a PWD, independence is something we all strive for like others. But there are and will be things we cannot do no matter how hard we try. This also applies to seemingly little things like walking alone in the streets or using public transportation. And this is the time we accept our limitations and ask help from others. That is not to say we stop trying and giving it our best in what we can do or what we want to be.
As a person with disability or disabilities, it is important that we accept who we are; this includes recognizing our strengths, weaknesses and defects. But we can be assured that there are people out there who are willing to lend us a hand. Living in this world is tough. We know how it feels to lose a part of our body. We face struggles everyday that a normal person would not or never have to worry about. But we know are not incomplete. We are people just like everyone else.
Pagtanggap
Ako si bulag, kayang makakita ng wala
Ako si pilay, kayang lumakad gamit ang kamay
Ako si bingi, di maririndi
Ako si pipi, sa pagkilos bumabawi
Di namin gusto magkaroon ng kakulangan
Kasalatan na habambuhay namin pasan
Tinanggap noong una at patuloy na tinatanggap
Sa panahon ng ginhawa man o hirap
Di man Makita o maring ang kabuuan ng mundo
Di man maiparinig ang sinasabi ng puso
Lalakad tungo sa mga pangarap
Sasamahan ng pagtitiyaga at pagsusumikap
Mangarap Pangarap
Tumingin sa kalangitan.
Tuklasin ang mga kakayahan.
Silayan ang alay ng kinabukasan.
Mangarap nang walang katapusan.
Mangarap. Pangarap.
Masarap ang mangarap.
Mangarap. Pangarap.
Maliit na sulyap sa hinaharap.
Mailap na tagumpay.
Di agad mapapasakamay.
Daang makipot at baku bako.
Di agad magpapantay.
Mangarap. Pangarap.
Di mararating ng isang sulyap.
Mangarap. Pangarap.
Makakamtan sa pagsisikap.
Matapos kumapit.
Narating din ang langit.
Nalagpasan na ang mga pasakit.
Sa wakas, pangarap ay nakamit.
Pangarap. Mangarap.
Balik muli sa simula.
Pangarap. Mangarap.
Balik nanaman sa simula.
All of Us
Life in this world is really something
It is amazing and depressing
An eighth of happiness and kindness
And the rest is suffering, chaos, and wickedness
We are given hearts but they're complicated
Everything is not what it appears
Everybody knows nobody. It is clear
That there is room for the unexpected
Death is not the end of it
The Revelations is not a book for a kid
Although puzzling and deep. All of it is true
Events that will come to start life anew
When the Seven Seals are unsealed from Heaven
When the Seven Trumpets are blown
When the Seven Bowls are thrown
All of God's power will be known
In those times of great chaos and destruction
We cling to Your promise of protection
Help us live through the Great Tribulation
As we patiently wait for our Salvation
All I wish is to see
The heaven that God made for you and me
God and all of us together as a family
That is how He wanted it to be
YOU ARE READING
Halo halo at Fruit Salad Poetry and Prose
PoetryA collection of Filipino and English poems and essays about life.
