PITAYA
(pee ta ya)
I realize that I don’t talk much about the guys that I work with. It’s easy not to talk about them much because most of the stories seem sad. But this isn’t fair either since the stories need to be told and their lives are just as important as you and me. So, I’ll try to pick a new person every other week or so to tell you about.
This is being written to remember Pitaya. I can’t think I can really describe him any better than to say that he’s just simply put, a beautiful person. Pitaya is 30 years old and has lived in the government wards since he was at least 5. The records aren’t that good so I’m not sure if he was brought here at a younger age or not, I wonder too if he remembers anything about life outside of the government complex. I also know that there is no real way us to know what it is like to grow up there, but I’ll try to give an idea as best I can tell. Pitaya has spent most of his life surrounded by other disabled people being taken care of by government workers. Most of the children had either been abandoned because of their disability, or they had been dropped off after a couple of years when the parent dies or cannot afford to take care of the child anymore. Pitaya probably has never lived in a room with less than 30 other people at least. The government employees are good, but with so many kids to feed and bath, etc, it becomes impossible to give all the children the same attention a child with a family gets.
He has probably always had ample food to eat and a bed to sleep on…even if he has had to share it with other people at times. Pitaya doesn’t get to chose what he eats everyday though, he doesn’t have any freedom to go for a walk if he would like. He can’t go see the city at night or spend some time alone to think about things when he’s feeling a little down. Basic freedoms that we can tend to take for granted were never really an option for Pitaya. He has pretty severe Cerebal Paulsy and can’t walk or even eat on his own. There most likely wasn’t much physical therapy available when he was a child or the resources for any kind of operation that might help him. Then again, maybe given all the resources and care he still wouldn’t be in any better physical shape today, I couldn’t tell you if those things would’ve helped. He is smart though, but unfortunately fell through the cracks and wasn’t given any kind of education. One day a lady was walking though the ward and Pitaya said “Hi Sandy, how are you today?” Sandy was really surprised and said “You know my name!?” Pitaya knew everyone’s name, but his intelligence was realized too little and too late.
He’s among the smarter of the guys I work with, but without education and living among other disabled children his entire life hasn’t pushed him to excel in this area. He can understand how to play games like checkers or connect 4, but it’s hard for him to become really good at it. He paints with his mouth though and makes cards which either CCD or another organization here help him to be able to sell for money. It’s not an income, as if he needed one, but it gives him purpose. This is important.
Pitaya always seem happy. It seems he’s learned how to appreciate the little things in life. He’s never had to think about the future, so he has lots of time to be happy for the day. He likes learning English and is pretty good at remembering some words. After about a month of working here I came in one morning and was really tired and hot. I sat down and said “how ya doing Pitaya” not expecting a response at all. I was amazed when he said “I’m fine, how are you?” Since then I try to teach him the basic English, we both like it. He also likes to arm wrestle with me when he sees me. I figure it has to be good for him since it helps strengthen his arms and he seems to have lots of fun doing it.
Pitaya is a good friend to have. He’s the kind of friend that always makes you smile when you see him.