Thuy a kind-hearted artist 1/5

Translated from French by « P’tit bout de choux de Bruxelles »

             Thuy has completely changed since she moved into her new home around 10 years ago.

             Her psychiatrist explained to us an Arabic proverb that applied to Thuy, «  Séparer les tentes pour rapprocher les cœurs »,  meaning  to understand someone emotionally we didn’t need to be so physically close.

At the time we hadn’t trusted this as in our eyes, due to her disability Thuy would always be a little girl constantly needing to be watched over day and night.

             Now that Thuy has almost had a new start, we  realise  how this proverb was so wise and well-advised .

 

Thuy’s new home

 

            In her own world Thuy follows a very specific routine : during the week, she goes to CITL, Centre of Initiation to Work through Leisure, a system designed to familiarise disabled people with jobs .

             After returning from CITL in the afternoon, she usually watches singing and dance shows, often Vietnamese ones  including the famous Paris by Night programme which she is a massive fan of . She recognises singers’ voices and sometimes accompanies them, humming.

              Afterwards, she either plays melodies on her piano keyboard from memory of her old piano lessons, or pieces on the drums, partly to impress the ladies who help her every day.
             At night, she helps them wherever possible to make dinner, commutes between her house and ours and takes out the bins .
             Generally, weekends are for extracurricular activities including drums, swimming or painting .

             Painting however is still a big part of her life.
She is so dedicated to art that she always finds a moment to paint before going to CITL, and we often have to remind her to rid herself of paint marks before leaving the house.
             An art teacher who accompanied her for a long time before leaving to province remarked :
                 «  Thuy painted the colour on the canvas and then I was touched because her gestures taking the paint from the palette and the strokes she painted the canvas with reminded me of the way ancient Vietnamese calligraphy was always so delicately written . She seemed to caress the paper and was so concentrated and peaceful in those moments . It gave me the feeling that this was precious to her. It was if she was speaking to me without words, through her expression, and I understood her . »

             Gradually, we were relieved to notice that Thuy had become this confident, carefree girl from her childhood . Slowly but surely the memories of her years of difficulties where we looked over with a deep sadness and a feeling of weakness at her closing off from others, her lack of communication and the anger constantly buried inside of her, disappeared slowly but progressively .

             She painted all the time and soon, her art studio, entirety of her house and our basement was filled with her paintings .
             And when we forget to buy more drawing paper and canvas, she continues to paint on the back of her drawings. She is so carefree and even unattached to objects, so she doesn’t hesitate to throw away paintings to make space for more. Therefore, the moment she finishes a painting I think  fine ,  I rush to hide it .

             I was eventually told by her psychologist doctors that this stubbornness and perseverance to paint was her way of communicating with others , as similarly to other children who suffer from Down syndrome she is uncomfortable speaking through words.

             For instance, I noticed that she sometimes avoids conversations by answering a brief  «  I don’t know » to questions she definitely knows the answers to,  due to not preferring this communication system .

Droits d’auteur / copyright

 

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