Twenty-eight-year-old Salome Jordan has one goal in mind for her future.
“I want to see that persons who need occupational therapy, who require occupational therapy, can get it, regardless of financial status, educational status, anything that once they need the service of occupational therapists, they can get it,” Jordan said during an interview with Guardian Media.
This goal stems from her own experiences of struggling to get the help she needed when she was younger but could not afford it.
The Maraval woman was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a condition that causes motor disabilities, at just eight months old. There are also different severity levels associated with cerebral palsy.
Jordan disclosed, “The Type I have is mild to moderate, which affects more my motor skills, gross motor skills and fine motor skills.”
Despite its effects on her body, it never affected her mind.
“Activities like walking or walking upstairs, writing, all of those activities are affected. But my cognitive opportunities, like understanding schoolwork, understanding instructions, is just like everybody else. It’s just the physical aspect that sets me apart from everybody else.”
Despite being differently-abled, she never allowed her disability to stop her but instead fuelled her passion.
Jordan’s thirst for knowledge grew. After attaining her bachelor’s degree, a double major in Biochemistry and Chemistry at the University of the West Indies, she decided to go a step further.
She is now pursuing her master’s degree in occupational therapy to fulfil her dream of helping others like herself.
“I always saw school and education as a way to improve myself and a way to help persons like myself, because I’ve seen I have friends who also have cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities, and were not able to have the opportunities that I had and that is why I wanted to help them in the future,” Jordan said.
Through pure determination and hard work, she has been climbing academically. However, determination alone is not enough when money is in short supply and expenses add up when pursuing higher education.
Jordan, an only child, lost her father, the sole provider of the family, two years ago, while her mother is now battling with cancer.
“I’m an only child, so I grew up with just my mom, dad and myself. My family life was always close. The three of us was always close to each other. We lean on each other, depend on each other for everything. However, due to financial issues, my mom was always sick, she was never able to work, so my dad was the only breadwinner in the family. He recently passed about two years ago because he had other ailments as well.”
And although she tried many times to secure a job to ease the mounting financial burdens, doing so was no easy feat.
“Since I finished university, my main plan was to go and look for a job to help support my family, as well as to continue my educational journey. However, trying to apply for work in Trinidad with a disability is very challenging.”
Unfortunately, discrimination due to her disability is no stranger.
“I would not disclose my disability in the resume. However, after attaining the job, I would disclose my disability just for any medical reasons, anything like that. However, when it was disclosed, the job was no longer appropriate for me. Either they would say they will call back or they would say that they have no need for the position to be filled anymore.”
Jordan revealed that she eventually got a contracted job at a local bank, but it was short-lived.
She said, “I started to work on a three-month contract. So, it was only three months, and then it extended for another three months, and then eventually I got into the OGT programme. But again, the OJT programme was only a contract, so currently, I’m unemployed.”
Now, the Jordans’ only source of income is the stipend they receive from the survivors’ benefit grant, which they stretch as far as they can.
But Jordan does not let this faze her and put a stop to her dreams.
“I never like to look at what I don’t have. I like to look at what I have and what I could do with what I have. Because everybody has struggles. Everybody has to fight or find a way to accomplish what they need to accomplish,” she said,
Jordan’s only advice to anyone looking to advance their education is to have faith.
“Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t and can do. You need to believe in yourself, and you need to know what you could do and try to persist, no matter what the struggle is, and try to find a way to pursue your goals.”
Anyone wishing to assist Salome financially in pursuing her master’s degree can call 776-7162.