Anonymous 2m 485 #covid19
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
I am Kumbu Tenzin a 52 years old father of two children. At the age of 25, I was first diagnosed with a disability in the form of Ankylosing spondylitis and I was informed there is no cure for ankylosing spondylitis, but treatments can lessen the symptoms and possibly slow progression of the disease.
I had always dreamt of becoming a civil engineer but my dreams crashed due to my health condition. Both my hip joints have to be replaced and my maternal great grandfather took me under his care and after 6 years of illness, I managed to walk on my own, but the stiffness on my back, Hips and knees really hampered my movement. But I still wanted to see whether there was some life out there beyond the narrow limits of my local community.
Then I decided to get enrolled in 1year computer programing courses in a Government run Institute. After completing the courses, I was selected and employed in a Hydro Power Corporation. I also got married to a lady who offered to help me and subsequently she gave birth to a girl and a boy. Life seems bit easy having a family, although my desire is to help and teach Computer skills to Persons with Disabilities and physically challenged persons.
I resigned from my services in 2009 and established a small Training Institute to offer training services in ICT, Management and Accountancy to school dropout youths with disabilities, persons with disabilities as well as to other abled youths who are jobless. The earning from the training services was not profitable, yet sufficient to run the institute. On March 5, 2020, the detection of the first COVID-19 patient in an American tourist in Bhutan hit us hard and we are asked to shut down the Institute.
Then I became incomeless with huge monthly bills as well as repayment of loans that stressed me causing depression day-by-day. Out of stress, I argued with my wife and she filed for divorce as I am penniless and could no longer support her needs. I have no option then to agree with divorce. Lying on bed helpless I thought why this suffering to me again. However, my daughter who is still a student herself is the light in my darkness, she helped in feeding and looking after me which uplifted my spirit. I looked for employment, but due to COVID-19, there are no job offer in the job market. A friend offered to help me with the monthly internet rental charges to try online job to earn little income, but so far, no earning from online. I am still hopeful for help in form of donations or funding/grants from international organizations and people from all over the world, to restart the training services again and help fellow Persons with Disabilities. I hope to fundraise $ 10,000.00 to restart training Institute, I pray almighty God to help me in achieving my second dream.
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