Have you worked with people with disabilities before? Have you volunteered before? What has motivated you to do this? How has it been?
Yes, because of my specialty, I work with people with disabilities every day. My basic responsibilities are medical assessment, prescribing and assisting rehabilitation procedures and managing the rehab program. During the fellowship I worked with different types of disability basically persons hospitalized in neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, rheumatology, amputations and orthopedic units.
Also my volunteering experience was very important to understand disability as I worked translator and caregiver in an orphanage for children with cognitive disabilities in Orhei (small city in central Moldova). The project name was SKIP, Student for Kids International Projects.
Some years ago I volunteered for a year and a half in a project that was involving children with cancer, from National Institute for Oncology. Our aim was to offer psychological support for therapeutic coping of children with the cancer, which included handicrafts with hospital equipment, educative and recreational activities
My motivation to the medical profession and to work is this field has been the will to learn more things, improve my interaction and communication, to give my support for the society I live in and to be an active citizen of my country. One big factor that motivates me is also my own experiences with hospitals. I have a special perspective because of my own experiences, trying to understand the persons from inside, their emotions and not just their body. Some patients show more cooperation when they notice my “restriction” because they open up more.
How has it been to work with this festival and having people with disabilities needs in mind?
It has been challenging because people with disabilities represent the core of the festival,
and I hope that other participants will understand that functional diverse people have a huge world of emotions, they have a lot of skills and creativity. People with special needs are often more adaptable and flexible to the environment then other people, and they have a strong fighter personality. It is important to give to them (us or me in particular) the needed time and space and possibilities to unveil their true personality.
From my experience, I sometimes forget about my disability and I feel like everyone else, when I participate in adaptive events. If your needs are ignored it’s very hard to handle this emotions, you tend to isolate and became more closed.
How can we stop this? It’s a process in time. I think that the human mind is like a parachute and it does not work if it is not open. People need to make an intellectual effort and to have empathy inside of them, put themselves in someone else’s shoes. In time, it will evolve, but now in Moldova it’s too slow.
This festival is a step forward, for me as a person. I learnt about how stereotypes works and different mentalities. The fact that the festival is public is very good, time will show more.
How has the making of the festival been for you?
It’s been fun, it’s been different all the time and very colorful. A little bit difficult because the schedule are very busy, you don’t have the time to do everything.
Here, I don’t feel limited by my disability. I have a different world view in general, I think that modern human tends to pay more attention to quantity and exterior than to quality. They simulate more than live. The reality is less and less touchable, less and less true, more virtual.
"Adrian is 27 years old and lives in Chisinau, Moldova. He is a resident fellow in Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine and he has 1 year left to get his degree. He has Spastic hemiplegia, one type of Cerebral Palsy, which effects on the right half of the body. Adrian likes to travel, philosophy and expression through art like drawing, poetry and playing instruments."
