Volunteers at the UPM Dogathon learnt a lesson or two from the disabled.
ALTHOUGH nearly a month has passed since the Universiti Putra Malaysia Dogathon, I still can’t forget how much fun I had there. All my friends – more than a dozen guys and gals, mostly in wheelchairs, and some with walking sticks, and the elderly – had a whale of a time, too.
The Dogathon saw the participation of more than 3,000 people and 900 canines.
The organisers were the veterinary students of UPM. They went to great lengths to play host to the handicapped. We had reserved car parks, a wheelchair-accessible mobile toilet, free coupons and meals that included breakfast, brunch and lunch.
Each disabled person was assigned a volunteer to take him or her around. I don’t recall seeing my pals being happier at any other similar outdoor event. The volunteers were veterinary students who were beaming from ear to ear as they went about their tasks. Many of them flooded my e-mail inbox with feedback of their experiences. Here are some of the responses:
> First-year student Lee Yee Cheng writes: “Although I’ve helped handicapped people before, I was nervous about helping people in wheelchairs. My main worry was how I was going to push and manoeuvre the wheelchair on the grass. I wondered if it would be better to ask them for guidance first as I did not want to make my guest feel uncomfortable by being overly helpful. Luckily, everything turned out for the best though I wished there were guide dogs or service dogs around. It would be interesting to see what our canine pals would have done.”
> Aisyah: “I don’t know why some people react with pity towards the disabled. For me, it was an honour to be able to interact with them. The handicapped ought to be encouraged to keep dogs as pets, considering the amazing things that canines can do for them. I can’t wait to volunteer again next year!”
> Chan Jia Xin: “It was a tremendous educational experience. I learnt the proper way of offering assistance to the disabled. It made them happy, which also made me very happy in return.”
> Mohd Hafez Bahadom: “I discovered that the best thing we can do for the disabled is to treat them the way we ourselves would like to be treated.”
> Wendy: “I was assigned to take care of a man who was paralysed from the neck down. I was afraid at first as to what I was going to say to him. But he surprised me by doing all the talking. I discovered that the disabled are just the same as any other people. They like to talk to anyone who cares to listen.”
> Lya: “The disabled were just as excited as we were to see all the dogs and play with as many as they could. The gentleman that I was assigned to was very nice and friendly. It was easy to talk to him.”
> Purshyla Manikam: “I never knew how challenging and unfriendly the environment was for people in wheelchairs until I was there with one of them and struggled with the wheelchair. Everything in our path seemed like an obstacle course, especially when little thought was given to the needs of such people. Yet, despite the difficulties, the disabled take things in their stride. This is something we can learn from them.”
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