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Social Media for Raising Awareness

Jihong Hwang

BEFORE YOU READ:
What does it mean to “raise awareness”? Has social media ever helped to raise your awareness about something?

Social Media Gives Disabled People a Voice
When I was in elementary school, we had some lessons to teach us about people with disabilities. Some kids covered their eyes. They didn’t want to learn about people with disabilities. Other people felt sympathy. I was young, and this lesson impressed me, but I did not think too much about it.

These days, I notice that the media can play a big role in helping people learn about disabilities. There are characters on TV who have disabilities, but they are just part of the story. Their disability is not the most important thing about them.

Social Media Helps Connect People
Social media can help caregivers and people with disabilities find each other and share their experiences. For example, parents of children with disabilities use social media to share ideas about how to find the right school for their child or how to find transportation. People with disabilities talk about how they spend their time. They gain courage from each other.

Disability Matters to All of Us
It makes a difference for people with disabilities to be more visible. You can change your perspective when you find out how people with disabilities navigate the world. Maybe it can prepare you for when you are disabled. You never know. You might become disabled. You might get in an accident. I am aging. Every person I know is aging. Disability sometimes comes with aging.

We need to recognize that disabilities are our business. Recently, I saw the bus driver wait and help someone who uses a wheelchair get on the bus. Everyone on the bus waited for them patiently. I was surprised and pleased by this experience. Maybe we are learning. Maybe social media is raising our awareness.

We Should Pay Attention
When I started to write this essay, I thought my elementary school lesson did not matter much. But now I think it was important. It helped me learn how to pay attention to people who have disabilities.

If you don’t have a disability, it might be hard to understand everything that about people with disabilities are going through. But we can learn. We can pay attention. We can value everyone and try to understand their situation. One day, we will probably all have a disability or be a caregiver for someone with a disability.

AFTER YOU READ:
According to the author, what are the benefits of making people more aware of disability?

Jihong Hwang is an ESL student at Piedmont Virginia Community College. She is Korean but he lived in Japan for over 10 years. She now lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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3. Listen to sections of the article by pressing the play buttons that appear before a set of words in the article below (coming soon).

War is Like a Disability

An Afghan Woman Shares Her Story

Roqia Tahiri

BEFORE YOU READ:
1. As you read, pay attention to the words horrific, cooped up, and oppressive. See if you can tell what they mean from the context.
2. Share what you know about Afghanistan. What do you think this article will be about?

We Stayed in the Basement for Safety
I never thought that I had a disability until I began writing on the topic. I didn’t realize that my experiences as a child were like a disability. Now I see that those horrific experiences of my childhood put obstacles in front of me. They did not stop me from trying to reach my goals. But they did make me who I am today, and thus I want to tell my story.

When I was a young girl, I lived in a world full of war. We could not go to the kitchen to get something to eat because we never knew when the rockets would hit. We could not go to school or go outside to play. We stayed cooped up in the basement all the time. Mom and Dad tried to stay positive. They said, “Don’t worry, kids. Everything will be all right.”

Struggling to Get an Education
As I grew older, the situation got worse. I dreamed of becoming a doctor, but I could not go to school. My situation was a disability for me; I couldn’t do anything about it! Finally, my parents decided to leave the area, so we could survive.
First, we traveled to a safer province. My father had a heart problem, and he died in that province.

Mom decided to leave the country. We moved to Pakistan, and I continued my studies as much as I could. I found a job after school with a group of women. We taught literacy and health classes to women and girls. The situation in Afghanistan had become more stable, and so we moved back to Afghanistan. Unfortunately, my mother got cancer and died. This was a great disappointment for me. I didn’t know how I could go on.

Back in my own country, I found a job and saved up enough money to go to one of the universities in Afghanistan. From 2017 to 2021, I went to university. I got my own apartment, and I had a good job and salary.

A Government that Is Anti-Woman
But my happiness was short-lived. A big change occurred in our government. The Taliban came to power. The Taliban is an oppressive, anti-humanity, anti-progress, and anti-science government. They were arresting and killing women who were educated and had worked with foreign offices, particularly with the Americans. They interrogated me and asked me, “Why are you alone? Why aren’t you married?” They made me give my apartment to them. I had to leave the area and hide in a different province. I could not work, and I experienced many hardships.

A Visa to the United States
Finally, in March of 2023, I received an email from the U.S. embassy. They informed me that I could get a visa to go the United States. Later, after I did all the paperwork, I left Afghanistan and came to America.

The War and the Taliban Disable Everyone
The war in my country and the oppressive government were like a disability for everyone who lived there. There were so many obstacles for us—especially women—who wanted to pursue our dreams. But even with these obstacles, it is possible not to give up and to stay hopeful. It’s like my parents told us when we were hiding
in the basement. They said, “Don’t worry, kids. Everything will be all right.”

AFTER YOU READ:
1. What is the author’s main claim? How does she support her claim?
2. The article on pp. 32-33, “A Collective Wound: Addiction in Native Americans,” makes the claim that colonialism has had a disabling effect on Native Americans. Read that article and compare it to this one. What do the two articles have in common?

Roqia Tahiri is from Afghanistan. She has lived in the United States since 2024. She is an ESOL student at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and worked for more than 17 years in Human Resources.

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3. Listen to sections of the article by pressing the play buttons that appear before a set of words in the article below (coming soon).

A Collective Wound: Addiction in Native Americans

James Francis

BEFORE YOU READ:
1. What is a “collective wound”? How is it different from an individual wound?
2. Share what you know about colonialism. What role does colonialism play in U.S. history?

My Story Is Not Just a Personal Story
For 14 agonizing years, I faced a relentless struggle with drugs and alcohol. What began as fun and recreational use at parties quickly spiraled into a devastating cycle of dependency. But three years ago, at the age of 38, I was able to find sobriety. It sounds like a personal journey: I got addicted and then I got better. But addiction is more than an individual struggle, especially in Native American communities.

Alcohol Separates Us from Our Traditional Ways
Alcohol is a weapon that has disabled our people, limiting our ability to learn, grow, and thrive as we once did before colonizers arrived. European colonists introduced alcohol as a trade commodity. Native Americans were not familiar with its effects, and alcoholism became a new disease. It was part of a larger strategy of disempowerment, separating us from our knowledge systems, disrupting our traditional ways of living, and weakening our ability to pass down cultural teachings.1

Many of our youth today are left vulnerable to addiction, not because of personal weakness, but because they have been deprived of the cultural roots that once provided strength, direction, and purpose. When I struggled with addiction, I unknowingly abandoned the teachings of my ancestors. It was not until I found a practice called Wellbriety that I was able to reconnect not only with my community but with my Higher Power. In doing so, I regained a sense of self that had been taken from me.

Recovery and Cultural Identity
What is Wellbriety? Wellbriety means achieving wellness and sobriety in balance, living as our ancestors intended, with a clear mind, a strong spirit, and a deep connection to our community. Walking the path of Wellbriety is akin to walking the Red Road, a way of life rooted in balance, respect, and cultural identity.2

The Wellbriety movement is based on the
12-step recovery model of Alcoholics Anonymous but reframes it within Native American cultural values and beliefs. As someone in active recovery, I have walked this path for three years. In that time, I have learned that I can only keep what I have by giving it away. To me, this means that I must now reach out, educate, and help others, just as I once needed help myself.

A key teaching within Wellbriety that deeply resonated with me is the Four Laws of Change:

1. Change is from within.
2. Development must be preceded by a vision.
3. Great learning must occur.
4. Healing must take place within a community, just as a forest heals itself.

We Are All Connected
This last teaching is especially important. Addiction is not just a personal struggle; it is a collective wound. When one of us suffers, the entire community suffers. That is why healing must happen together. As the Wellbriety movement teaches: To injure one is to injure all; to heal one is to heal all. We are all connected.

My passion for counseling comes from this understanding. The Wellbriety movement has shown me that true healing is not just about stopping substance use; it is about rebuilding the cultural foundation that colonization sought to destroy. Our group is still new, but we are committed to sharing these teachings in the hope that they will continue to grow, spreading a message of recovery, strength, and renewal.

I was fortunate to have people in my life who never gave up on me, and I now see how crucial that support was in my own healing. That is why I am committed to promoting a sense of family within a strong community. We do this by reinforcing cultural traditions and strengthening our bonds with one another.

Growing up, I was taught that our ancestors survived for countless generations because they lived in harmony with Mother Earth. They knew she was sacred, and that all things should be treated with respect. Colonization disrupted this understanding. It is time to undo the colonial legacy that has disabled our people. It is time to reclaim our knowledge, our traditions, and our future.

Healing begins today.

AFTER YOU READ:
According to the author, how did colonization disrupt and harm Native American communities? Be specific.

James Francis is from the Acoma Pueblo, a native American community near Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is currently attending New Mexico State University Grants, where he is working on his Bachelor’s degree in Counseling and Community Psychology. His goal is to become a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor.

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After My Granny Fell

Norma Carolina Delfin Gress

BEFORE YOU READ:
Read the title and the headings. What do you think this article is about?

She Fractured Her Knee
This story is about my granny. She is 87 years old. She lives with my older sister in Mexico. One day, my sister called to tell me that my granny fell. She was trying to go to the bathroom when she stumbled and fell. My sister ran to help her, but it was too late. Everything happened very fast. After that, my granny could not walk. My sister was worried and guilty because she couldn’t prevent my granny from falling. I felt scared and sad.

My brother and sister took my granny to the hospital. The doctor gave her a prescription for pain medication. He said to my granny, “Your knee is fractured, but it will be good in two weeks.” My granny does not have medical insurance, we paid for the emergency room visit and for the medicine.

She Said No to Expensive Surgery
Two weeks later, my granny’s leg was still swollen, and she was in a lot of pain. We decided to call a specialist. The specialist saw that Granny’s knee was still fractured and her hip was broken. The doctor said she needed hip replacement surgery. The surgery is very expensive in a private hospital.

We wanted her to go forward with the surgery so she could walk again. But my granny disagreed. She believed the recovery from surgery would be too painful. We could not change her mind.

Now My Sister Cares for Her, and the Family Helps
Currently, my sister is taking care of Granny, and we are very grateful for all the support and sacrifices she has made. We help her with everything we can to make it easier for her. Additionally, many family members visit her throughout the weekend and sometimes on work days too. My granny is happy when she is visited by all her family. Family members who live far away usually talk with her by video call. My family loves and feels empathy towards my granny.

We had to adapt my sister’s house to accommodate my granny’s needs. It is a big challenge because the house is very small. We bought a hospital bed and recently added a patient lift and transfer chair to help move her from one place to another. We also installed a mini-split air conditioner and an air purifier to make her more comfortable.

It Shouldn’t Be Like This
Having my granny with a disability has been difficult emotionally, physically, and financially. My priority is to support my granny. I wish there was more public support for older people. My granny receives a certain amount of money from the government every two months, but it is not enough to cover all her expenses. My uncle and
I try to make up the difference. When we have difficulties covering her financial needs, we ask other family members for help.

It shouldn’t be like this. What if we did not have the money to help her? What about all the families that don’t have enough money to support their elders? I believe it is a social and public responsibility to care for older adults. They are vulnerable, and some may not have family to support them.

We Want to Keep Her with Us
My granny is a strong woman. She has a positive attitude while facing her condition. Sometimes, she feels disappointed and depressed. We want her to know that we love her and we want her to be with us for a long time. Although it can be complicated, we believe that we can support her and keep her with us for many more years.

AFTER YOU READ:
1. How does the author’s family take care of their granny? What does the author think about this?
2. How do you take care of seniors in your family? Read the article in the box on page 31.

Norma Carolina Delfin Gress is a student at Ysleta Community Learning Center in El Paso, Texas. She is a dedicated, enthusiastic, and reliable person who works hard to accomplish her goals.

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Working with the Elderly

Lucia A. Hernandez

BEFORE YOU READ:
Do you have any loved ones being cared for in a nursing home or other facility? If so, what is it like?

Honor and Respect Our Seniors
I believe we should honor our seniors. They are the people who once cared for us. Now, as older people, they might not be able to care for themselves. They might have dementia or some physical problems. Or they might just be too fragile to be alone. Some of them go into nursing homes. When this happens, we should make sure that they are treated with empathy and respect.

Working in a nursing home was my first job in the U.S. I was a CNA (certified nursing assistant). My friend helped me find the job. In less than a week, I was already working. I had worked as a nurse in Mexico, so I had experience.

Short on Staff and Resources
I remember my first day at work. I wanted to do things the same way I did when I worked at a hospital in Mexico. But the environment here was different. There was not enough staff, time, or resources to do the job well. I tried to provide proper care, but it was impossible.

I was so distressed by how the other workers acted. Their behavior was unprofessional. The caregivers yelled at them and sometimes roughly grabbed their hands. It was heartbreaking to see such a lack of compassion and respect. I soon stopped working there.

Leaving our loved ones in the care of incompetent people is almost like leaving them alone. It may even be worse. We must value our seniors and give them a better quality of life.

Staff Need Better Pay and Training
To improve the care of the elderly, especially in nursing homes, the government should make sure that all workers have better training and higher pay. In addition, there should be a minimum ratio of caregivers to patients. This would help ensure each of the residents receives proper attention. Nursing homes should also be regularly monitored for quality standards.

Financial Support for Families
Furthermore, families should receive financial support and resources—such as home care assistance or tax credits—to help them care for their elderly relatives at home if they prefer not to place them in a facility. With these improvements, we can ensure our seniors are treated with the dignity they deserve. With compassion, investment, and commitment, we can create environments where our seniors are treated with dignity and love.

AFTER YOU READ:
What does Lucia think we should do to improve care for the elderly? What do you think?

Lucia A. Hernandez is enrolled at Ysleta Community Learning Center in El Paso, Texas. She is a healthcare professional with 12 years of experience and holds a postgraduate degree in intensive care. She enjoys staying home and taking care of her five dogs and three cats. Her goals include learning English and becoming a registered nurse in the United States.

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