I did break those barriers
I think that many of us ought to be embarassed because we are able, we have strength and abilities, but we lack any will to help those who really need it: financial help, physical and mental help. We should be embarassed because there are some without strength abilities to live on their own, but with a good will to devote their life to someone else, and also to succeed in many activities, which helps the soul and brings a sense to their life.
Piotr Pawłowski tells us a bit about what has happened to him and what his day-to-day life looks like.
"How my story began…Just like that. I jumped into the water. If it wasn't for that jump I would probably be working as a mechanic right now. When the doctor came to tell me,
I’m sorry Piotr, you’ll have to spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair, it felt like the end of the world. Even more because till the accident my life was all about sport. I was coming out well as a basketball player, and I loved other sport disciplines. I was in the second grade of a technical college, and suddenly there was this moment when I lost my arms and legs control. I became dependent other people.
But actually, from this unfortunate jump I benefited much more than I thought I would. The accident eventually drove me to develop "Integration", which happens to be my biggest adventure and the passion of my life. It may sound like a paradox, but that’s the whole truth about Piotr Pawłowski. I would be in a different place than I am right now. I know that for many people a wheelchair, disability, heteronomy is like the biggest drama. I’ve met so many wonderful people who have never doubted in my abilities. Most importantly, my parents and wife are always with me."
Piotr paints landscapes and still life with his mouth. He found the Association of Friends of Integration and the Foundation "Polska bez barrier"; he is a creator and the editor-in-chief of the magazine for the disabled, their families and friends called "Integration". He is also an author of many radio and television programs and of social campaigns. Besides all of that, he’s a member of Rada Programowa at the National Museum in Warsaw, Zarządu Stowarzyszenia Inicjatorów Społecznych i Fundacji Ashoka.
"When I hear that they call me a publicist, a teacher or a painter, I feel a little embarrassed. I have always had a problem with talking about my occupation. I can’t simply say it because there are so many areas I’m fascinated with. Journalism came out of a social duty when it turned out there is a need for a magazine, a radio and television program. I studied pedagogy and philosophy, but I don’t feel like a teacher, nor a philospher, although in my actual job I use some things from both fields.Painting is my hobby and one of the foundations of my life. Once I put a pencil in my mouth and I started drawing. It was already much easier because earlier I had learned how to write using just my mouth.
The more I develop myself and widen the work of "Integration", the more I miss the paints. Doing arts really fascinates me. Thanks to it I can rest or quiet myself. The art teaches patience and waitnig for the right moment for painting. The patience in looking for colours, composition, transmission form. The patience and acceptation of yourself. It gives unrestricted feeling of free spirit. That’s why in the fields named "occupation" I should write: a hothead or a social worker."
The passion of Piotr’s life has become making normal functioning in social life of a disabled person real. That is why he gains people around the idea of integration of the disabled with the society as a social norm, collaboration and relationships in every part of civil life. Everything that Piotr has done since 1994 is in Poland an innovative action. He created the platform for understanding between the world of the healthy people and the disabled. Thanks to this it’s easier to refute the myths, stereotypes and prejudices, to win over the helplessness of social institutions, helplessness of the society and the disabled themselves. According to Piotr, a disability will stop being a problem as soon as the two worlds get to know each other through coexistence, collaboration and co-living in the world.
Piotr is a graduate from Instytut Studiów nad Rodziną Uniwersytetu im. Stefana Kardynała Wyszyńskiego and the postgraduate study of ethics and philosophy from Uniwersytet Warszawski. In the years 1986-90 he was preparing a PhD thesis at Międzynarodowa Szkoła Nauk Społecznych at Instyt Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk.
Some Awards:
- distinction of Międzynarodowa Niezależna Fundacja Popierania Kultury Polskiej POLCUL,
- an award of Pełnomocnika Rządu ds. Osób Niepełnosprawnych,
- an award of Andrzej Bączkowski,
- Krzyż Kawalerski Orderu Odrodzenia Polski,
- Medal Komisji Edukacji Narodowej,
- a catholic award TOTUS.
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Mental & Physical Disablment Copyright © 2007-2008 by I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Karola Miarki w Żorach. All rights reserved. NOTE: All sources: texts, photographs and multimedia, have been used with the authors' permission. To find out the details, check the bibliography.
