By W. Davidson

THERE are some people who are born with a disability while there are others who, due to some tragic accidents in their lives, are left disabled. But, for many of them, these challenges have only made them stronger.

According to Stephen Hawking, “Disability needs not be an obstacle to success,” and a living testimony of the words is Noelle Ferreira-Hinds, 40, who the Guyana Chronicle encountered during a recent visit to the Moruca sub-region, in Region One (Barima-Waini).
Noelle who lost her left leg in a vehicular accident in neighbouring Venezuela, can be seen daily hobbling along with her two crutches the sometimes steep inclines of the streets in Kumaka and Santa Rosa, with her partner, a national of Venezuela, selling pastries – pine-tarts, butter-flaps and coconut buns – earning a living.

A mother of two children, ages 10 and eight years, Noelle told this publication that she cannot allow her disability to deny her from earning “a dollar”, since, in addition to maintaining herself, she has to care for her two children who live with her.
She, like many other Guyanese, had been forced to flee neighbouring Venezuela, some years ago, where she had a comfortable life, and return to her homeland, due to the economic hardship that country now faces.

Noelle related that she first left Guyana when she was about five years old with her mother, Elizabeth Perreira, who was then a teacher at the Santa Rosa Primary School.
She fondly remembers visiting Guyana when she was 12 years and 17-years-old, returning to Venezuela at age 18. However, misfortune met her when she was involved in a car crash in Venezuela.

Noelle has been in the country of her birth about eight months now, and according to her, an uncle has offered her accommodation until she ‘gets back on her feet’.
It is another reason why she needs to earn some money, and, honestly too, she emphasised, adding that she was grateful that her children have been able to be integrated into the school system.

Noelle who displays a pleasant disposition said, “the absence of a prosthetic leg and the terrain here make it hard work for me, but by God’s grace I will overcome.”