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Showing posts with the label The Pepperns and Wars of the Mind

The Glass is Always Half Full

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On rare occasions you chance upon a personality who has the resilience and tenacity to make such a startling impact on you that you are forced to rethink your priorities and curb those pity parties you indulge in. Frederika Menezes is one such person. She amazes and stupefies you with her positivity in the face of what others would consider an incapacitating physical disability. Frederika has cerebral palsy, and remains in a wheelchair for the most part but her mind is razor sharp. Her parents, Angela and Jose are retired GPs and dote on Frederika. In some families this condition may have been deemed burdensome but it was not so for Frederika. She asserts she was not treated as a person with a disability as a child. She says, ‘I wasn't aware of what I could do or be so I just enjoyed the attention. To be honest, I was never treated different. Not really.’ Her alma mater is People’s High School, Panaji. She stresses the fact she attended regular school as there is also the School fo

Winners among the ‘Different Normals’

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Inclusivity has become the mantra for today, and individuals like Avelino de Sa and Frederika Menezes prove its significance by the heights they have achieved in spite of their disabilities. Avelino de Sa has already made a name for himself as the president of the Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG), constantly championing causes and programmes that will benefit the differently abled. Avelino was born with cerebral palsy but has surmounted his difficulty in walking by leading a relatively normal life. A Commerce graduate from Dempo College, Panaji, Avelino is also a certified investment and tax consultant with his own firm in Panaji. Under his presidency, DRAG has won the Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award for the year 2004-05 for Exceptional Act of Social Courage, and the Goa State Award 2007 for the Best NGO for the Welfare of the Disabled in Goa. Much of the changes in terms of accessibility for the differently abled that one sees in Goa have been brought about through the effor