74th recipient of our help (wheelchair) : “I have named him Messiah after our Lord Jesus Christ. I want Jesus to help my son live the best life he possibly can, within the condition and circumstances he has been given to us to rear.”
Messiah Milan Lobo (8)
Messiah has CP (Cerebral Palsy), he cannot walk, , and cannot hold his head in one place, ; so the back of his wheelchair will need additional support to help maintain his head upright.
He studies at ADAPT, Bandra west. He is studying in ‘Transition class’, equivalent to senior KG.
Messiah lives in Bandra, his father is a motor vehicle driver. He has two brothers and one sister. He likes to accompany his family on all outings, like family weddings or social gatherings.
His mother, Cecilia, carries him and takes him to all places. She said, ‘..but now he is growing bigger and so he is getting heavier, I find it hard to lift him nowadays. Sometimes I take him out in an old baby-pram we have.’ Well, my donors thought, ‘we better get this kid a WC soon!’
I asked her if her son can speak clearly?
She replied, “Messiah can speak, one word at a time – ‘Mumma, Dadda, Diddi….. Bye, Good Night…Hello… ”
He cannot weave the tapestry of words that we need to form sentences. However, the good thing is, he can understand what people speak to him.
I asked his mother, why she named him Messiah.
She replied, “I have named him Messiah after our Lord Jesus Christ. I want Jesus to help my son live the best life he possibly can, within the condition and circumstances he has been given to us to rear.”
I had mentioned this in an earlier post, that I met some mothers who have named their CP children after their Gods; I think, maybe they do that with the intention that their God’s benevolence grace their very special child.
This will be Messiah’s very first wheelchair. I do not know his medical condition completely, as I am not his doctor, however, I hope this will be his last, and someday we pray he will walk.
Another thing, we made certain we buy him a very good quality WC, so that it lasts for more than a decade, if need me. No compromise on the quality.
Another good thing, Messiah’s WC was purchased from a centre in Worli where physically challenged people make especially-adapted-for-the-straight-head-position WC’s; so in a way, you donors are encouraging their livelihood too by buying this especially-adapted WC from this centre. It’s called, The Fellowship of the Physically Handicapped, @ Haji Ali.
I asked her what does Messiah like to do at home?;
She told me he likes to watch TV, movies on TV, although both his eyes cannot focus as well as we can. She said, ‘He can see 60 percent!’
Do note, his mother did not use the word ‘ONLY’; she did not refer to her son’s capacity to focus and see being ‘only’ 60 percent.
When the principal of ADAPT had told me about Cecilia, she had said, ‘…the boy’s mother is a very determined and positive women.’ A determined and positive MOTHER, truly.
I asked Cecilia, at which moments is her son the happiest?;
Cecilia replied, “Messiah likes to go outside…. some person gifted him a pair of shoes, so he tells me in actions and a few words – Mumma, make me wear these shoes… take me outside the house… He likes to look at the cars and people passing by…” Cecilia cried then.
Later, when I was on my way to work, I thought – We fortunate peeps can go out and experience the warmth of sunlight, bathe in the soft shadows of moonlight, dance in pearls of raindrops, look at the brilliance of stars, smell all fragrances of the outdoors, savor all other benevolence of Nature and God, whenever we want, in a blink of our eyelid. In fact, even before our eyelids shut in that very blink we peeps can be outdoors on our own accord.
Thank you God, thank you Mother Nature, for your benevolence on us.
I remember something the GREAT Jamsetji Tata (merchant Prince of pre-independence) had once said. His life had always leaned heavily towards incalculable charities and public trusts (Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, etc); Jamsetji had said “I seek no favors, I want no privileges.”
I now believe, Jamsethji may have said that because he would rather offer the favors and privileges he had earned for himself from his hard work and intelligence, to the more deserving underprivileged and unprivileged.
Thank you to Pavitra and Surabhi for their benevolence, donating this WC to Messiah; (I think either Cecilia, or ADAPT, one of them contributed some amount towards this purchase.) And just like his mother once wished while naming him, we too wish that the benevolence of Jesus nest and rest in Messiah and only grow.
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