A book depicting the life and mission of Executive Director of the Dominica Association of Persons with Disabilities (DAPD), Nathalie Murphy has been officially launched.
The book, “Treasure in our Midst,” was penned by Catholic Priest, Fr. Clement Jolly, and it was presented during the DAPD’s commemoration of International Day for Persons with Disabilities ceremony held in Goodwill on Thursday.
Father Jolly said he saw the wisdom in the work that Murphy and the DAPD have been doing over the past 32 years and he has written the book mainly about her who has been a pioneer in the disability movement in Dominica.
It is said those who know her will admit that she has done tremendous work in the disability movement in Dominica, the region and the rest of the world.
“The story of people with disabilities, one kind or another, has been a very long and painful one,” Fr. Jolly said while addressing the ceremony.
According to him the visual challenged, in particular, have suffered terribly.
“At first they were treated as subhuman beings, people to be despised, to be shunned, and to be pitied. They were often made to live a life on their own…,” he said.
He also noted that the visual challenged were made to live an existence separate from that of other people, which he said is “grossly wrong.”
“When it becomes challenging for people who suffer from disabilities of one kind or another, the solution is not to segregate them but to explore ways of integrating them and enabling them to take the rightful place in the community,” he stated.
Fr. Jolly said additionally people with disabilities must be empowered to make their own contribution to society.
He said Murphy has been a special blessing to Dominica and, “indeed to the world.”
“We seem to ignore the fact that there are things greater than merely material achievement. What shines out in Nathalie is her self-conquest,” he noted. “To my mind she has done more than to climb Mount Everest or swim across the English Channel. She has given us a display of self-conquest and she has done it brilliantly. She has struggled for an all inclusive society; she has perceived herself as a person with a mission.”
According to him, one of the Murphy’s most beautiful sayings, “people will look first at a person’s ability, their potential to achieve and only then consider how their disability can be accommodated.”
“Nathalie has determined not only to take charge of her destiny but to change society,” he said.
Fr. Jolly revealed that three weeks ago a perons who read the book made a few positive remarks about it.
“Your book Treasure in our Midst gave me a rude awakening, it changed my perception reading about Nathalie Murphy,” he said the reader remarked.
“In spite of its short-comings I am very pleased to have written the book,” Father Jolly concluded.
Meantime, Murphy thanked Fr. Jolly for taking on the project and deciding to write a book, “so that others out there will know about some of the things that have happened to me over the years.”
She said Fr. Jolly approached her a few years ago revealing to her that he has the interest in writing a book about her.
“I said no,” she stated. “Then he came back a second time and then a third time and said ‘I am ready, let us go, we are going to do this.’”
Murphy said with modern technology she was able to read the book on her own.
“In it contains a lot of information, very interesting, very enlightening and one of the chapters in the book is the history of the visually challenged,” he said.
About 200 copies of the book have been printed and each cost $40.
Copies are available at the DAPD office located on Canal Lane in Goodwill.
A complimentary copy of the book was presented to the President of Dominica, His Excellency Charles Savarin, during the ceremony.
Thank you, Father Jolly, for this sterling contribution
No doubt about it Father Jolly, Nathalie is a treasure in our midst. Nathalie is one of my former classmates, she was one of the smartest girl in my class, always smiling, friendly etc, we all knew that she has problem with her sight, she had those very thick lenses, and she would hold her books up to her face to readand do her sschool work, in spite of her challenges she nerver gave up and was one of the top students in class, Nath never gave up, with her smartness she could have been a Doctor, lawyer, Professor etc, but God had better plans for Nath and I salute her, and thanks to you Father Jolly for giving Nathalie her Roses while she is still here with us doing what God’s desired for her, and I wish her God’s Blessing so that she can continue to advocate for persons with disabilities in Dominica and across the globe