November 17th, 2014 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | 1 Comment »
I just hit another lowest point in my Peace Corps service. A fellow trainee who became a very close friend is being sent home due to a medical condition. It is very hard for me to deal with the news as I’ve been through many situations in my life where I’ve been told I couldn’t do what I wished to do because of my disabilities and so, I know how she feels.
When I was first told that I was going blind in 2006, I was about to start my first year at an art university, Savannah College of Art and Design, and study filmmaking and graphic design. I aspired to be a filmmaker and artist. One of the first comments I received shortly after I was diagnosed was, “You can switch to being a screenwriter.” That message put me into a downward spiral. I didn’t want to be told that my dreams have to be crushed. I didn’t want to give up what I loved doing all my life. I didn’t want my newly diagnosed medical condition dictate even more what I couldn’t do in my life when I already have hearing loss that has already tried to give me many setbacks throughout my life since birth.
Fighting for my rights to achieve my dreams has never been easy. I’ve been told, “No” too many times in my life because of my disabilities and it does hurt. I was denied admission to a Jewish day school simply because of my hearing loss. I was told I couldn’t travel abroad because of my hearing loss. I was told I couldn’t take French because people thought it would be too difficult for me. I was told I should switch to a liberal arts university because I’m slowly losing vision. I was denied a job opportunity because I can’t drive. Peace Corps did say “no” when I applied to serve five years ago simply because of my disabilities.
In spite of facing many setbacks and being told “no” so many times, there are two words that keep me going strong in my life and ensuring that my dreams do not get crushed. Those words are “determination” and “resilience.” If I strongly feel that I’m capable of achieving my wishes, I will fight for my rights to do what I desire to do.
Even though I was denied an admission to a Jewish day school, I still went onto Sunday School, learned Hebrew and had a Bat Mitzvah. I won my battle to be allowed to travel and have been to 20 countries, many of which I visited solo. I won my right to take French and successfully learned it during all four years of high school. I continued my education at Savannah College of Art and Design by majoring in photography and graduated Summa Cum Laude. I reapplied to join the Peace Corps, got accepted and so far, my service has been going very well.
Even though I still can’t drive, my family at home in the US is working tirelessly around the clock to raise funds for research to find cure for vision loss so that I can drive again one day.
I hope I’ll see a day in my lifetime when no one’s dream will be crushed because of a disability or medical condition. We still have a long way to go in fighting for our rights to do what we desire to do and also creating treatments for all medical conditions that exist in the world. I wish that people could fully realize that the talents and work ethics that people with disabilities and medical conditions can offer, can truly triumph the limitations or pains we face on regular basis. For every person with disability or medical condition we deny, we could be shutting a door to new bright ideas such as innovating new business tools that can help a community become finically more stable, creating new medical interventions that cure illnesses, building educational tools for children in school and creating technologies that improve lives of people.
I told my friend who is being medically separated not to give up by reapplying to Peace Corps later on once she gets her medical condition resolved in the US. I really hope she’ll be given a second chance one day. She has such an incredible work ethic and determination and so much potential to be a star volunteer. She has a strong desire to improve the lives of many people.
1 Comment
leo & bayla chaikof
November 18, 2014 at 12:39 pm
Rachel…the article that you wrote about your dreams is just amazing!!!! we love reading about your adventures but play it safe…inspect all that you will eat…hopefully you will write a book about your time in Cameroon..keep the field notes coming..love you …bubby & zaidy
we are just putting together a box for you…please tell us what your heart desires and we will gladly add it….hugs and kisses