A Poem by a Special Needs Advocate

I feel like a changed person since meeting Hamdah Khalfan Al Mansouri. The first thing that caught my attention was the empowering smile. The smile said Yes I can and also Yes you can. She has not walked, but she has traversed the universe with her passion and with her words.

I feel fortunate to have met Hamdah on this journey of life and I am touched by her clear vision and mission in life. I am also blessed to know such a beautiful poet that writes from the heart with nothing but simplicity and clarity. As always feeling fortunate to have such light on my path and such teacher and travel companion on the journey of life.

This is what the latest press release for Speak Abu Dhabi said about her: Emirati poet Hamdah Khalfan Al Mansouri, whose poetry is a window into her challenges and triumphs through life in a wheelchair, will empower the audience with her verses on the limitlessness of a person’s being. “Poetry is a companion, a friend and a way to help people see how it feels to face challenges in life,” Hamdah believes.

“Poetry helps me express my inner feelings and show how we are all like the fingers of the same hand.”

Her powerful and moving poem about disability that speak volumes and over centuries:

This is My Disability

Why don’t they join me in my enjoyment and play?

Even if they were trivial

When they ask, they are answered

When they scream they are indulged

But to them,

My language is unfathomable

My screams are intolerable

This is my disability: I am misunderstood

Is there a wall standing between us? I wonder…

Isn’t there a common language for us all?

Isn’t emotion the language of humanity?

What contents them certainly contents me

And what saddens them saddens me-

I shall change all that they think of me

In my studies, I endeavored and accomplished

More than they did

In my talents, I have shined brighter than they did

I am not disabled, for I have a mind that can take

Me to the moon.

تلك إعاقتي
فلماذا لا يتشاركون معى فى لهوى ولعبى، وإن كان تافهاً
يسألون فيجابون…يصرخون فيُدَّللون
أما أنا….
فلغتى لا يفهمونها
صرخاتى تزعجهم
بكائى لا يعنيهم
تلك إعاقتى…
لماذا لا يفهموننى؟؟
ألا توجد لغة مشتركة بيننا ؟!
إن لغة المشاعر أرضية مشتركة بين البشر كافة
وما يسعدهم يسعدنى…..
فما يحزنهم يحزننى….
وما يبكيهم يبكينى..
فاوعدو نفسي أن اغير تفكيرهم بي
في دراستي تفوقت عليهم
ومواهبي مميزة وأفضل منهم
فانا لست معاقة بل لدي عقل اوصل به إلى القمر

Read an incredibly inspiring article written by Rym Ghazal in The Naitonal about Hamdah. The article is called Poetry is Powerful.

In this beautiful article Hamdah says:

“The disability is in the mind. We are all normal. We are just normal differently.”

Watch a beautiful poetry night: Speak Abu Dhabi where Hamdah captures the hearts and minds of the audience and Abu Dhabi.

Also special Coverage of the Speak Abu Dhabi event by Poet TV.

Other Blog Posts on Special Needs:

Poem Dedicated to Mother Teresa and Parent’s of Special Needs Children

Paralympics 2012, Stephen Hawking and the Big Bang And the Essence of Life

A Treasure Hunt into the Heart of Special Needs Children at the Royal Stables

A Poem About Down Syndrome and Sultan