Dili, March 4, 2025 (Média Democracia) – The story of Anselmo, from Ermera, currently living in Manleuana, Moris-Foun. He was born in good condition until one month later he had an accident due to a fire that burned his left leg which did not heal and eventually he became disabled.
According to Anselmo José M. da C. Martins, he was born in good condition but one month later he had an accident in November 1998, after his father and brother were picking coffee and his mother was washing clothes in the river.
“When I got this accident, it was very difficult to take to the hospital for treatment because at that time the situation was still at war, so my parents only received traditional treatment but I didn’t recover, because the situation was still hot we had to run and hide in the forest to survive.” He said.
He continued, in 1999 at that time there was still war so his family decided to run away and hide in the forest to save themselves from the war, therefore he could not get treatment from the hospital because the situation was still hot.
“Finally the war ended in 1999 and in 2000 through the great love of my parents, they continued to find a way to take me to HNGV for treatment, but the doctors could not operate on my leg because I had measles,” he added.
He said that in 2012 his parents continued to try to find various ways to take him to HNGV and he underwent surgery but he did not recover, in the end he still had a physical disability in his left leg.
“Since I was disabled, I always got discrimination from my family by communicating with incorrect and inappropriate terms, which is by calling me with words like paralyzed or crippled. However, I just accepted all those words because I still did not understand about disabilities so I also did not take action against my family and others.” He added.
He said that despite this, he still faced discrimination from his family who kept calling him lame and crippled, which really hurt him when he received those words from his own family. They kept saying those words because they were not well-informed about disability issues.
“I also accepted this statement, but I continued my studies at SMP 10 de Dezembro, Comoro Dili in 2017-2019 and continued my high school studies in 2020 at Escola Tecnica Vocacional Santo António Metinaru, Dili and graduated in 2023, and did not continue to college due to economic limitations.” He said
He emphasized that he is currently taking training from an NGO to increase his insight and capacity, even though he is disabled, he continues to learn to fight for his future. It is his legs that are disabled, not his brain.
He explained that even though he had experienced many challenges, this was a question for all of us not to lose our enthusiasm to continue learning because by learning we can achieve success. The success he has achieved now is working at Radio RKDTL, he is very happy because he can meet his daily needs and through this job he can eliminate the depression he has experienced.
Reported by : Nelfiano
Picture by : Anselmo