“My name is Helmi Pangaribuan. I am the eldest of four children in my family – two girls and two boys.

My parents knew of my condition before I was born. My mother was able to accept and say that this is part of God’s plan, but my father struggled to accept how I am. He would ignore me.

My mother passed away from cancer when I was 12 years old. I felt very sad. I didn’t understand all that was happening to my feelings. I was sent to a special school for Grade 6 so that I could do therapy sessions.

I came back to attend Junior High School. My father continued to ignore me. This was very painful for me. He would not support me, so I had to do jobs like other student’s homework, carry things etc to try and get some money for my books and uniform. I felt very lonely. I missed my mother. Even my friends at school teased me about my condition. I felt more sadness.

At school I joined the vocational classes and learnt sewing. They provided me with a sewing machine. I stayed with my grandmother. My father ignored me and gave me no support, but he would support my brothers and sister.

After graduating, I stayed at PK Hephata for 5 months. I had a lot of health issues – pain in my back and chest. This made it hard to me to accept any jobs as I couldn’t make an agreement to finish the work because of my sicknesses.

I came back to Toba to join one of my teachers in her tailoring business. I wanted to show people that I can be like others….especially my father. After two years, I wanted to have my own business, so I started tailoring from my grandparent’s house. I am still doing that.

I joined the People living with Disability (PWD) Group in 2022.