Disabled woman gets literacy training in hospital room

Beyazıt Şenbük - ISTANBUL

A 27-year-old physically disabled woman who never went to school and could not read or write received literacy training in the hospital where she was treated.

Born and raised in the southern province of Adıyaman’s İnlice village, 27-year-old Gizem Keskin was born with inverted feet and a hole in her heart.

Most of her childhood days were spent confined to her bed. Her family could not send her to school as it was far away from the village, owing to her physical disability.

Keskin left Adıyaman two years ago and came to Istanbul for treatment and settled with her brother and sister-in-law. Last January, she was admitted to a hospital for a month for treatment and learned to read and write with the one-to-one education she received there.

“I had no friends and no social life. Not being able to go to school, not being able to get an education always made me sad. My 20’s were spent in constant treatment so that I could walk,” she said.

She told the journalists that one day, the hospital manager came to visit her roommate and asked Keskin where she went to school.

When he found out that she had never been to school or learned to read and write, a teacher was assigned to her the same day, and she started receiving education.

Keskin said that she now spends all her time at home reading children’s books.

“I feel very lucky to be able to write my name. However, I need to speed up my reading and writing,” she noted.

She said that her teacher did not leave her even after she was discharged from the hospital, and they currently continue their classes.

Semra Öz, her teacher, said that Keskin is a diligent student, and she was entitled to receive an “Adults 2nd Level Certificate of Achievement” from the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning of the Education Ministry with her perseverance.

Keskin added that she wants to go to school and sit at a desk, something she was unable to do as a child, if her medical condition allows.