A new friend, or even better: a new sister for Emmanuella
A new PCC- sister for Emmanuella
You don’t need to share the same parents in Ghana to be able to call someone your brother or sister. It is part of the Ghanaian “extended family” concept!
This is certainly also the case in PCC. All of our residents have quite different backgrounds, but many children have been living together with a particular caregiver since their arrival in PCC and they behave like they were brothers and sisters. Have a look at Jerry Emma, a caring older “brother” to John Papa or at Esther and Deborah. These two young ladies, who preferably wear the same clothes, have been behaving like inseparable “sisters” for years. Even more examples can be seen if you have a good look around.
And now there are two new “sisters” in PCC, which are very happy circumstances for both them and us.
One of these sisters, Emmanuella, has been living here for almost 16 years. She is a sweet and strong young woman with a very prominent disability (you will certainly remember her). She was born with neither arms nor legs and she cannot walk and go wherever she wants to go. She is and will remain for ever dependent on other people.
But it looks like Emmanuella has recently found her new “sister” in Linda! Linda was admitted as a new resident into PCC last October. Her arrival was briefly mentioned in the 21st and latest PCC Newsletter.
She is a few years younger than Emmanuella and was born with “spina bifida”, which causes complete paralysis in the lower part of her body and legs. Besides, she had large and severe wounds on her legs for years, which healed very slowly and could only be successfully treated with constant and expert care.
Just like Emmanuella, Linda will not be able to walk or go where she would like to go either and she will remain dependent on other people for the rest of her life.
We got to learn Linda a while ago via our Outreach programme and we tried to support her in many ways in her own village in the Nkoranza District for one-and-a-half year, but unfortunately, we were not successful enough.
That is why we decided to admit Linda as a new resident of PCC and from that moment on Emmanuella and Linda have found each other. Though maybe I should put that differently: Emmanuella and Linda are sitting side by side in their (wheel)chairs anywhere in the compound, they eat at the same table and they are chatting away with each other continuously. Emmanuella is playing the role of the elder sister, who is able to tell and teach the younger Linda about her experiences in PCC.
They go to Summer school together and once in a while they play a game, for example “Four in a row” or “Memory” (see the picture above).
They are regularly joining the morning fitness sessions at 7AM led by Dominic or one of the other caregivers. Of course, both in their own special manner given the difference in and the nature of their own limitations.
What is striking is that those two young ladies seem to have found their soulmate in each other. The life they led before PCC and their very severe limitations brought the two of them to PCC separately. But from the first moment on that Linda arrived in PCC they attracted each other’s attention and immediately started to behave like they were sisters.
The friendship and the pleasure felt by Emmanuella and Linda inspires many of us in PCC, because there are two new sisters in PCC, two soulmates!