DUBAI (Al Arabiya)
Salem al-Hajiri and Sara al-Dawsari are an exceptional example of determination and optimism refusing to give into their disabilities and insisting on leading a normal life, local press reported Thursday.
Salem and Sara, who got married a month ago, catch everyone's attention as they move around in their wheel chairs without anyone’s help, the Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported Thursday.
" I chose Sara because she is well aware of her condition and of the best ways to deal with it and challenge all the obstacles she might meet " Salem For years, Salem and Sara used to meet by coincidence in shopping malls. He liked how independent she was despite her disability and she liked how sociable he was. Their families met and he proposed to her. Shortly after, they got engaged then married.
“I chose Sara because she is well aware of her condition and of the best ways to deal with it and challenge all the obstacles she might meet,” Salem told al-Watan. “And she is also well aware of my condition.”
Sara works in the administration of a local school and comes back from work and prepares lunch and eats with her husband. She leads a life that is just like those of other women around her.
“We have so many things to do,” she said. “We go out more than one a week. We go shopping in malls and hang out in cafes.”
Sara added that she might not have been happy had she married an able man.
“No one else would be able to understand me more than someone who has the same condition and who is aware of the challenges people like us meet. For me, this is the perfect match.” |
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Moving on " For me, disability only afflicts the brain. Otherwise, any physical impairment can be dealt with smartly and without problems. The most important thing for the disabled is not to give in to this feeling of inferiority that afflicts many of them " Salem Sara called upon all handicapped women to discard their pessimistic view of life and to stop thinking they cannot get married.
“They have to get married and have a family. This makes a handicapped woman feel alive and get over the feeling that she is not part of the community around her.”
Salem agrees with his wife that the disabled have to move on and integrate in society.
“For me, disability only afflicts the brain. Otherwise, any physical impairment can be dealt with smartly and without problems. The most important thing for the disabled is not to give in to this feeling of inferiority that afflicts many of them.”
The only thing Salem complains about is the minimal attention given to the disabled both by the public and private sectors. Lack of services for the handicapped leads many of them to live in seclusion and suffer from loneliness.
“They need to find easier ways to move around and integrate in the society. Otherwise, they are not much different from prisoners.”
Among the major problems facing the disabled in Saudi is lack of facilities in public places, Salem added, such as ATM machines accessible to people in wheelchairs. Many people also park in areas allocated to the handicapped and are not penalized.
The prices and availability of wheel chairs is another problem that makes it harder for the handicapped to move around easily.
“An electric chair costs 200,000 riyals ($53,000) and a few companies have monopolized their sale and started raising their prices.”
Salem called upon government bodies to fund the purchase of wheel chairs or offer payment facilities for people with low income.
He also demanded that the financial assistance given to the handicapped be raised as it does not exceed 800 riyals ($213) a month and called for changing the policy which stipulates that the assistance be stopped as soon as the disabled gets a job.
“If the disabled finds a job, it will not be more than 2,000 riyals ($533) per month.”
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid). |
