THE MIXING OF CULTURE AND DISABILITY

---

A warm greeting and a chagrin-filled acknowledgement that it has been many weeks since I last posted on this blog. The only excuse that I can offer is that I have been busy researching and living in this beautiful city, Hong Kong. Before I update you on what has been going on in my life lately, I’d like to share my thoughts about several situations that I’ve encountered related to my disability recently.

Three people have asked if they could pray for my healing. One stranger handed me money in the subway station. And, of course, the ubiquitous people who go out of their way to help me have persisted nonstop. As an advocate, I continue to be annoyed by these actions - well-intentioned though they may be. As a woman I struggle against the tendency to let these occurrences deplete my self-esteem. As a cultural ambassador who is trying to understand how disability is constructed in Hong Kong, I remain intrigued and am eager to learn how Hong Kongers with disabilities would view these situations differently than I do. With these multiple perspectives in mind, I offer the following thoughts.

When a stranger feels the need to approach me to pray for my healing, it is moderately annoying. They presume that I see myself as broken. They pity me for my loss of eyesight. They see their “God-given” role as to try to heal me of my “suffering”. They don’t pause to observe that I can walk along just fine. They don’t know that I almost have a Ph.D. They don’t realize that I’ve visited over a dozen countries on three different continents of our beautiful earth. All they see is my supposed defect.

When someone who knows me fairly well attempts to heal me, it is truly painful. Whether they stop a worship service to act “on the Spirit’s prompting” or they simply ask if I’d like them to pray for me, I get a sinking feeling of dread in my chest. Why can’t they pray for the things I ask prayer for? Why do they presume that they know how to fix me? Why can’t they understand that, just because going blind is their greatest fear, that doesn’t mean its mine? Why can’t they see me as a role model of self-acceptance of my own disability? These people are comfortable residing in their ignorance. They have no idea how demeaning it is when they can’t see past my closed eyes to who I am inside or who I am professionally.

I recognize that running from such people only fuels their misguided assumptions. So, even though I am incensed by their pity for me, I will return to the Bible study at which an ill-informed Christian tried to “help” me. I draw strength for my return from all of you who have had similar experiences and can laugh at them now. Let’s hope that, through God’s guidance, I can speak words about my reaction to their inappropriate behavior that make sense to them. Maybe, just maybe, they will learn how to view disability in a positive way.
Regarding my “beggar” incident in the subway, here is what happened. I was waiting in the entrance to the Admiralty MTR Station last Saturday afternoon for a friend of mine. I was reading along on my BrailleNote, minding my own business. Someone came up to me without a word and pressed a bill between my fingers. I think it was a 20.00 Hong Kong Dollar note. That’s about $3.00 U.S. At first, I didn’t know what they were doing. Then, the dread returned to my chest. “Oh my gosh!”, I thought. “They think I’m a beggar.” I was filled with rage. I’ve given my all to succeed academically! I’ve left my own country to help out others. I’m smart; I’m self-sufficient. I’m a Fulbrighter, for goodness sake. And, I’m anything but starving. Why would someone assume that I am begging for their money?

I shook my head no, emphatically. I handed the money back to the person. I tried to listen to God’s voice: “Christie, maybe that person came from a country where the only thing blind people do is beg. Christie, they don’t know that you are what you are. Christie, their intension was nothing but kind.” Then, I just wanted to bust out laughing. The situation was so absurd!
Recalling the relief that I get from sharing such experiences with my blind friends in the U.S., I thought I would have a good laugh when telling a blind friend from Hong Kong about what happened. In fact, when I told one of my blind friends here about my beggar incident, he said that he has taken money from people who have offered it to him. That shook me up. Granted, he now avoids a woman who rides his bus and insists on giving him money by taking a different bus. But, he has felt comfortable in the past taking money from her. So, what does this mean to me? If I vehemently abhor begging at all times, perhaps I am adopting a rigid stance that does not apply across cultures. As someone who has seen how damaging the dogma of hardliners can be, I am trying to accept the fact intellectually that some blind people beg unashamedly or at least gratefully accept offered money from others. And yet, for myself, I remain staunchly opposed to the practice.

[h2TRAVEL UPDATE
My Fulbright funding has been extended until mid-December, 2006. This two-month extension will allow me to more fully research my dissertation. And, I believe that the longer one stays in a community, the more good one can do. So, I am grateful for the extra time I’ll be in Hong Kong, even as I will have to wait two more months to see my family and my dog again. I’ll fly home to Chicago on December 18th - my first guide dog, Livia’s, birthday. I’m looking forward to spending Christmas with my family!

I am planning trips for my summer in Hong Kong with abandon! Thanks to the approval of the Chinese Government I now have a multiple entry tourist visa that is good until November 8, 2006. I’ve got three trips planned to the Chinese Mainland so far.
This Sunday I will travel to Guangzhou. That’s the capitol of Guangdong - a province in Southern China. I’ll be staying at the Garden Hotel - a five-star establishment. Let’s hope for a bathtub, television, and maybe even good, Western food! I’ll meet with U.S. officials liaising with Southern Chinese about disability issues. I’ll also have the opportunity to visit the Guangzhou School for the Blind. I’m taking an express train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. I’ve heard so much about Chinese trains; I’ll finally get to ride one! Be sure that I’ll blog about my trip when I get back. Wish me luck, safe travels, and lots of learning!

---