Microcephaly Awareness

According to Wikipedia, Microcephaly is a medical condition involving a smaller-than-normal head. Microcephaly may be present at birth or it may develop in the first few years of life. People with this disorder often have an intellectual disability, poor motor function, poor speech, abnormal facial features, seizures and dwarfism. The disorder is caused by a disruption to the genetic processes that form the brain early in pregnancy. 

On this page, I would like to briefly share my personal experience growing up and leaving with a microcephalus person. In my case, this person is my dear uncle and presents all the aforementioned symptoms.

If you ask my mum, leaving with such a person is difficult. You may listen to stories of comitment, difficult everyday life, suspicion and social exclusion. My own experience though is full of pure love, joy, true smiles, warm hugs, kindness, and lifelong education. The difference between our experiences is the environment each one of us grew up with this very same person. My mum, grew up in a village of 100 people, back in the 60s, when having such a condition in the family made everything more difficult; from schooling to social acceptance. Me on the other hand,  growing up in the 90s, haven't experienced any stigma and had the blessing to cherish the most unconditional love, given to me by the purest heart, my uncle's kind heart. Or maybe this is how I chose to think about it; this person is my personal treasure.

Since words are tiring, let me introduce you to his true smile, kind soul and pure love hoping to raise awarness.

Remember, we cannot teach heart but we can teach love.