By Cassandra Khan
BABY Shaw Rahim, who got the name ‘Baby’ because her father wanted her to be his baby forever, was born in 1940 at Aberdeen on the Essequibo Coast. Her parents were both indentured servants, Mangree and Willy Shaw.

Baby spent her formative years planting rice with her mother and attending wildlife for her father who was a wildlife salesperson.

Baby was married at age 16 to Shamsudin Mohamed Rahim and went to her matrimonial home at Better Hope, East Coast Demerara. Their union of 63 years produced 10 children, eight of whom are still alive. Rahim died in 2019.

By the age of 32, Baby was already a mother of 10 children and was attending to duties such as fishing, cattle rearing, poultry rearing and vegetable farming as well as sharing the work of her husband who was a jeweller.

In 1972, an incident occurred. Both her mom and son were hospitalised. Her son had a broken leg and was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital and her mom was at a hospital on West Coast Demerara.

Baby’s husband, Rahim, had stayed with his son in Georgetown until the family decided that Baby would visit her mom at the hospital at West Coast Demerara, then head over to Georgetown so that her husband could go back to Essequibo to work as he was the main breadwinner of the family.

Just five minutes away from her home she met with an automobile accident. Due to this, Baby lost her right leg. She was denied access to a nurse in Georgetown so she decided to sign her documents to have her leg removed six inches above the knee.

Baby returned home after spending about three to four months in the hospital where she learned to cope with her new disability.

A year later, Rahim sourced a prosthetic limb for his wife at the Ptolemy Reid Centre to help her move around unaided.

HEAL
After securing the prosthetic limb, Baby underwent surgery to even out the amputated area as it was not facilitating the fitting of the limb. She took a year to heal and recover fully from the surgery.

Though the limb was fitted, a few years later it brought her immense pain in her back due to the strapping across her waist, which was not comfortable for her when she sat.

But it was her only means to move around and do what she had to get done.

Over the years, she continued helping her husband with his jewellery business. Having less mobility did not stop her to find ways of keeping herself busy. She would often indulge in art, making mats out of scrap material, making polythene bags, crochet chair backs and more.

Eventually, this led to her starting a class in her community through the Social Impact Amelioration Programme (SIMAP), in which she taught the younger housewives and ladies how to knit and do needlecraft and make bags and dolls, among other creative works.

“The programme came to an end but she continued helping her husband, my grandfather, in the workshop and her craft which granddad help to market while plying his trade. This gained her some financial independence too,” her granddaughter, Angel Rahim related.

She added: “Grandma said she used her prosthetic for approximately seven years before calling it quits, with numerous falls and hurting herself. This was due to her weight and the locking device on the knee so when she moves the leg to walk, it folds under instead of automatically locking for the movement; she became fearful of more serious damage to her body, hence her switch to using the clutches.”

ALWAYS INDEPENDENT
This made Baby’s daily tasks easier. Due to her bearing 10 children, her weight gain was fast but this did not stop her from being independent.

She would travel on her own to visit her children in the United States. Baby’s granddaughter related that her husband, Rahim, would ensure that Baby visited places in Guyana which were accessible to her.

“However, grandma said she stopped the use of the clutches 14 years ago because she was having pains under her armpits with the damaging of the nerves and her weight did not help the situation; her only mobility was the use of the wheelchair,” her granddaughter stated.

Baby is now 82-years-old and it has been 50 years of not having her right leg. She related that in Georgetown where she spent almost two years, she would ride her mobile chair into the med taxi for her doctor’s visit.

“She has had some bad experience getting on to the x-ray table and going to Georgetown to see the doctor; the long lineup at the Stelling,” her granddaughter said.

She added: “When I ask what she enjoys most she reflects on chatting with persons advising based on her life experiences. A good laugh and a good gyaff, she loves to get dressed up too.”

Angel related that for all her life, she knows her grandmother to be a strong, hardworking and independent and even though life has thrown major obstacles in her path, she has found a way to overcome it all. She has lived the best life she could and continues to be an amazing person.

Baby thanks President, Dr Irfaan Ali for his active role in recognising the differently abled and for putting programmes in place to facilitate their needs.

Her message to others with differently abled conditions is to stay strong, focused and to challenge themselves.