Wednesday, September 15, 2010

New life at 19 years old... Nisha

Twitter allows you to meet people all over the world... and usually share with them travel stories, tales of afflulence and of battles fought, won and lost. And usually you are sharing stories of a life where you want for nothing.

However, I have become friends with Nisha when she asked me to donate to her project to raise money for fresh water in African villages... she has raised nearly $2,000 which is no mean feat. But as I have gotten to know Nisah, she is not your normal 19 year old.

Here is part of her bio:

My name is Nisha, I am nineteen-year-old for my South Africa and this is the story of how I became who I am. WARNING: My life has more twists in it than a rollercoaster.

At six months I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) - an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement. As a result of having Cerebral Palsy I am unable to walk and my right-arm has reduced functionality. Growing up I used to watch other kids playing on the playground I used to be so envious and as I grew so did my anger towards God.

When I was 13 I was diagnosed with advanced Scoliosis – a medical condition in which a person’s spine is curved from side to side – and within weeks I was on the operating table undergoing surgery in which a metal rod was placed between my vertebrae to keep them from fusing together and was subsequently bedridden for a year after that. As you can imagine being bedridden wasn’t exactly fun - I got into a mini-depression and put on a bit of weight – until a family friend of ours – who is now passed on God bless his heart – came to visit and told me I looked a little ‘plumpy’ – at first I was really hurt and then I took a good look in the mirror and realized that there might have been some truth in what he was saying and I made some changes in my life.

Just 2 days ago, Nisha decide to become independent... here is day 2 of that journey:

Day2 : Yesterday was the day of my rebirth because I finally understood that history only starts becoming history once you stop reliving it every day – yesterday I chose to change my story and in doing so create a new history and because of that I went from being an utterly helpless disabled girl to being a girl who can now eat breakfast, lunch and dinner all by herself – what a difference 2 days make

It’s 10:05 AM on day 2 of my journey towards independence and I’ve already eaten my All-Bran Flakes – good for the digestive system – and learned how to write my name on a piece of paper – which was another thing on my list –I wrote my name and initials and even through it took a couple of tries before I was finally satisfied with the result I cried – literally – when I saw it because being able to write your name is like saying to the world this is who I am.

It’s only the second of my journey and I have already learned something that I will carry with me forever – I may spill cereal all over my white t-shirt or have to rub out my name a few times before I get it right but I will eventually get it right and that’s what I want you to know – you will get it right eventually – whatever the it happens to be for you.

Read more abut this remarkable girl at here blog:

Adventures of me: http://nisha360.wordpress.com/

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