Reclaiming Lost Roles
Keystone Moldova English and Keystone Moldova Romanian
Keystone Human Services (KHS) is a non-profit organization that is a part of a global movement to provide support and expertise to people with disabilities.
Valued roles are the vehicles to the good things of life. They are not static, but are ever evolving, growing, and changing. This applies not just to people with disabilities, but also to the whole community at large.
One such example is that of Jimni. Separated as a child from her family when she got lost on her way to a minefield, she ended up in an institution. And, as a person living in an institution there were not many valued roles for her to fill. After perhaps grieving for her for a while, the family adjusted to the fact that she was no longer in their lives. Loss of roles of a brother, a sister to Jimni were some of them. And then a miracle happened. Coming in contact with Jimni, a team of 3 people decided to give it yet another try to reunite her to her family and restore her lost valued roles. An attempt was made to find Jimni’s family with the limited faded information that she had. To add insult to injury, her name had been changed too. But the team did not give up. And soon the efforts bore fruit. Her family was located. Memories revived and revisited. Video calls made. A visit by a member of the team to her home confirmed that it was indeed Jimni’s family.
So, now was a time to re-ignite the various roles of the family towards Jimni and vice versa. A family meeting was held to discuss who would travel to pick her up from the institution, who she would reside with, who would take care of her medical and other financial needs. The role of a brother, nephew, niece, sister was recaptured and revived. It was not just one sided. Jimni was now an aunt, a sister, an adult member of a household, and many other roles await her as she plans to re-join her family soon.
Lost roles found again and enhanced. The power of roles once again tells us a story of revival and the importance of valued roles. And soon we will see Jimni access the good things of life.