It’s a normal afternoon in Prishtina, as the bustling sounds of Mother Theresa Boulevard fill the air. Birds are flying about, singing. Children are laughing and playing in the main plaza on this cool and cloudy evening. Couples holding hands are moving along with the flow, friends are catching up, an amid the crowd is 23-year-old Rinor Gashi. What sets Rinor apart, however, is that he’s not walking — he is rolling.
Rinor was paralyzed at age 6 when he fell on a grenade while his family was trying to flee from Serbian forces.
He endured surgery and rehabilitation — a scary and difficult time for a little boy. But when he was 12, Rinor was approached by HandiKOS, an organization for the betterment of paraplegics and paralyzed children of Kosovo.
HandiKOS encouraged Rinor to attend one of its summer camps, which focused on teaching paralyzed children the skills necessary to lead more independent lives. Rinor attended his first HandiKOS summer camp in 2004.
HandiKOS has helped 1,550 children and adults from Kosovo receive rehabilitation services and trainings through their camps since 1999.
His experience at the camp had such a strong affect on Rinor’s life that he decided to continue returning every summer until 2010 when he graduated high school.
He then began a path to independence, which started with getting his driver’s license and a car, as well as beginning a degree in economics at Universiteti AAB.
After just one year at the university, Rinor began volunteering at HandiKOS so that he could help people in similar situations to gain more independence. The amount of time and commitment that he devoted to it, quickly progressed into a career as a coordinator at HandiKOS, which is one of the few organizations in Kosovo that employs people with disabilities.
Now that he is older, not much sets him apart from the other young men that can regularly be seen moving along Mother Theresa Boulevard. Just like many guys his age, Rinor enjoys playing sports such as basketball, traveling, and hanging out with friends. A smile appeared on his face as he described memories of a recent scuba diving trip, “You are very free to move, it is very cool.” In that moment and many others his chair seems to become invisible behind the joy and humor that radiates from Rinor.
However, his paralysis does exist, as it does for many in Kosovo, and although he seems to move around with ease, precisely controlling his speed and direction, the unimpeded movement is eliminated as soon as he leaves the main streets. He faces his first lack of accessibility as soon as the crosswalks begin. This is because of the height of the curb that separates the sidewalks and the crosswalks in many locations around Prishtina.
“It’s very few places that there are ramps,” said Rinor when discussing the big curbs that he has to maneuver in order to cross the street, “I can do it, but I am strong, many people cannot.”
Watching Rinor, who is more comfortable than others, cross the road is not a calming thing to do. He approaches the curb slowly and controlled, just the same as the other pedestrians but when sign flashes green, he must first wait for clearance from his fellow pedestrians. Then he takes a slight roll back, popping up on his back wheel while immediately changing his direction forward and almost jumping the curb down into the street. Once on the cross walk he rolls easily until he has to come face-to-face with the next curb. He must begin to build up speed as the curb gets closer, popping up again on his back wheel and going up the curb pausing momentarily at the top, before his front wheels finally touch back to the pavement and he is safely on the sidewalk.
His daily routine demonstrates how something as simple as building a ramp at a crosswalk can make a big difference in the lives of people with physical disabilities.
“The first thing we need to fix is accessibility. This is the biggest. You can’t have employment, you can’t have education, you can’t have inclusion for people with disabilities with no accessibility,” Rinor said passionately.
He continued discussing accessibility issues, angrily highlighting the two biggest issues as the lack of accessibility on public transportation, and hurdles like curbs on the public streets. Yet, Rinor does not believe in letting a little obstacle hold back his accomplishments.
His face lit up when he talked about a recent letter he wrote to the mayor of the Municipality of Prishtina addressing the lack of ramps on crosswalks. His letter gained so much of a following that the mayor agreed to build ramps at three busy crosswalks. Although Rinor sees this as great progrress, he has no intention of slowing down.
Rinor’s passion for helping others when he begins discussing one of his favorite hobbies, traveling. He said that he loves going to cities that are more developed, because they are more advanced in accommodating people with disabilities.
HandiKOS officers say there is a lack of data on people with disabilities in Kosovo, so it is hard to gauge the extent of problems and progress. They estimate 3,000 – 4,000 people in Kosovo whose disabilities require them to use wheelchairs. But the accessibility that Rinor sees when traveling gives him hope of what the future may hold for people with physical handicaps.
Rinor uses the word “independent” frequently, and he takes great pride in the self-reliance that he has achieved. He wants to help others accomplish the same level of independence.
Rinor lives by himself in an apartment only a couple kilometers from the center of town. It has slightly wider doorframes, access to reliable elevators, and wider bathrooms with assistive devices. But those are the only differences from ordinary apartments. These living conditions free him to worry about the same things as other 23-year-olds — no need for special help with cleaning. He can cook the same staples as most young men — pasta, eggs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Making the move from living at home with his family to an apartment excited Rinor from the start, but his mother was needed to be convinced. She was very worried, as any mother would be, watching her son grow up and be ready to move out on his own.
“My family was not happy, my mom especially but I did move out and I changed their minds, ” he explained.
There are many obstacles in Kosovo for people with disabilities but Rinor has no intention of stopping the progress that he, with the help of HandiKOS, has been able to achieve.
Rinor said he sincerely feels lucky to work at HandiKOS and he hopes to continue helping others.
“I like here because it is my home. It’s not easy living here, especially with a disability but I wish to do difference. For disabilities, I want to change things, because this is home.”
(Rachel Brady is a reporting intern at KosovaLive this summer in collaboration with Miami University in the United States.)
