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I look up in the sky and whisper a question to God: 鈥淲hat am I supposed to learn from all this?鈥澛�

Sometimes I wonder if I鈥檓 strong enough to be a good brother. I sometimes feel so weak and incapable of making a difference in his life.聽

See, my only brother, Christopher, has multiple disabilities. He got cerebral palsy because of delayed birth. He can鈥檛 speak. Neither can he help himself in so many areas of life, like feeding himself, helping himself to the washroom, dressing up, and generally taking care of himself.聽

He is 25 years old now but he is entirely dependent on another person for his wellbeing. I sometimes ask myself what we could have done differently for him when he was still a child.聽But I can鈥檛 afford to think too much about that right now.

I have a duty to keep him safe, help him be a better person聽and be a light that shines his path as he keeps growing bigger and stronger.聽

The good news is that through physiotherapy聽he was able to walk. He hears too. Although my mother took him to several schools with the hope of helping him develop some skills, he wasn鈥檛 able to learn much.聽

We received a letter from the last school he attended saying they couldn鈥檛 handle his condition. That was the end of his school life, which was 10 years ago.聽

When I was a child growing up, my brother鈥檚 condition didn鈥檛 bother me much. However, as I reached high school and adolescence set in, I was embarrassed by him.

I didn鈥檛 want my friends to know that I had a brother with disabilities. I didn鈥檛 want to be seen with him. I didn鈥檛 want to be associated with him. I know for sure that this was wrong. I was wrong to have this kind of attitude towards my brother simply because of his disabilities. Now I know better. 聽

Everyone deserves the right to be loved, cared for聽and allowed to associate with others and not be discriminated against because of their disability.聽

Through my brother, I learned that anyone with a disability is as good as anyone else. My brother may not be able to talk or do so many things for himself. His brain may not have matured like any other person鈥檚.聽

But for as long as I can remember, every time I got back home from school and even today when I get back home from work, he welcomes me with a beautiful smile, a big hug and so much love. 聽 聽

In his disability, he has taught me the gift of love. He has helped me appreciate humility. Through his situation, I have learnt to be patient, more caring, selfless聽and I鈥檝e developed a spirit of kindness.聽

I may not be able to transform his life entirely. What I can do is be a good brother to him and show him that he matters.聽

Every child with a disability deserves to be shown that they are important, that they have a purpose to their being born on this planet聽and that they can make a huge difference in this world. They deserve to be given opportunities to grow and thrive.

My interest has always been in seeing children get the opportunity to read, write聽and express themselves confidently. I do this through running a children鈥檚 book club and donating books to individual children and community libraries.聽

Going forward, I鈥檒l pay more attention to giving children with disability the opportunities to build their skills and become better people.聽

I hope we can all reflect on what role each of us can play in helping people with disabilities bring out the best in them.聽

When we hold each other鈥檚 hands, fight for one another聽and show confidence in the possibilities that can arise when people with disabilities are empowered, there鈥檚 no stopping the kind of transformation that could happen world over.聽

People with disabilities have so many lessons to teach others. It is crucial that everyone listens to one another and pays attention to each other鈥檚 aspirations. Together, we can build legacies that inspire another generation to keep hope alive. 聽聽