Politicising Polio by Diana Szántó

Author:Diana Szántó
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811361111
Publisher: Springer Singapore

Mariama’s last exclamation is suggestive of the general mood surrounding the Bill5; an expectation that life conditions would change, somehow, for the better, once it was passed. The notion of disability in this context was symbolically attached to a political movement. In other, more private contexts, Mariama however refused to accept a disabled identity for herself and even denied that she was any less self-accomplished than she might want to be. ‘I am in this home’, she said, ‘I take care of it. I have my children, I send them to school. I go about my business. Why would I be disabled?’

In this statement, Mariama echoed the sentiments of many in the polio-homes, as I have recorded them in this chapter. She does not even hesitate to claim that disability has been an asset for her.I am not afraid to say: my life would not have been the same if I had not had the disability. I would not be in this home with my sisters. I would not have done so many things. Maybe I was in the street now, like so many other women. It is God who made me so. I can accept it and stay: I still worth something.

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