Guyana’s Tiffany Ward – conquering disability with skill

By Danielle Campbell

Tiffany at work

At first glance, Tiffany Ward seems to be the average, unassuming young woman with a cheerful personality and an ever present, warm smile on her face. However, 28-year-old Ward is confined to a wheelchair and has been unable to use her legs for the past 13 years.
Ward, who is employed at the National Commission on Disability (NCD), grew up in Beterverwagting, on the East Coast Demerara, and is the third of four siblings.
She describes her childhood as good and fun, but said she developed rheumatic fever at the age of three.
However, it was not until age 15 that Ward acquired her disability, and as such, she was able to enjoy all activities associated with a normal childhood.
“I don’t regret anything because I was able to run, jump, skip and do everything that usual children would do,” she said during a recent interview with Guyana Times International. Ward attended both the Quamina nursery and primary schools before earning a place at the Bladen Hall Multilateral School. However, she was forced to discontinue school due to the inaccessibility and layout of the building as her condition limited her mobility.
Despite this, Ward spent her time reading and drawing and enjoyed graphics and surfing the web. In order to occupy her time meaningfully, Ward enrolled in a Web designing course and hopes to continue her studies by pursuing follow-up courses in graphic designing.

Passion
Ward, who is very Internet savvy, can do trouble-shooting with software and hardware, and when it comes to computers, it is her area of expertise.
“My passion is to be a graphic/ web designer. It’s also my passion to own my own business; working in web and graphic designs,” she pointed out.
However, Ward faces many challenges on a daily basis that prohibit her ability to develop herself and inhibits what some would term her ‘routine’ activities.
“There are not very many accessible places here like when you go abroad, the buildings are more accessible, but in Guyana, there are still very many places that are to adapt to persons with disabilities.” In the case of a simple activity such as shopping, there are either long stairways or an absence of disability ramps. “… and so it’s hard for me to say I’m going shopping for jeans or sneakers or things like that,” Ward pointed out. One of the major challenges in Ward’s life is the death of her mother.
Asked how she was able to cope with the sudden loss, Ward said that everyone looks to God for strength because without him, there can be no life.
Ward’s mom had been an inspirational influence in her life and was there to support her in any endeavour she aspired to achieve.
“Sadly, I lost her two years ago. She was my advisor and I have not been able to recover from her death as yet. I look at all those people such as Judy Lewis and a friend I have in Antigua, who have achieved something despite their disability, and I say to myself that if they can do it, then I can do it as well,” Ward noted.
She revealed that she has a circle of friends and family who are financially available and provide continuous moral support. “… and that is what keeps me going. I have people in my corner who will give me the extra courage to go on. There are times when you feel that emptiness, but you try to move on from there.”
Questioned on what improvement she would like to see in the area of disability, Ward disclosed that the implementation of the Disability Act would result in sweeping changes in the treatment of persons with disabilities. “The way in which we look at and treat such persons has to change and the Disability Act specifies what needs to be done to ensure persons have healthy and productive lives.”
Ward explained that there are clauses in the act that speaks to the general provisions and standards and allow for the adequate treatment of persons living with disabilities.
Her advice to youths with disabilities: “Follow your dreams, push for it; don’t let anyone discourage you from achieving it.”