Free at last
01.01.1970
I am Sou was one of the "Emmaus Six," one of the six intellectually disabled men we succeeded in getting released from the large city institution. As I watched him bid farewell to the other inmates, I could sense the closeness of their friendship, togetherness, solidarity and their common cry. 'Let me be free'.
He strode out of the large institution with all his worldly possessions - a cigarette lighter, a cigarette holder, a penknife, two broken tapes and some pieces of old clothing - stuffed in a satchel thrown over his shoulder and a memory of a bitter past hidden away. Sam was about to get his first taste of another world, a world he wished to belong to, a world denied him for many years.
As he walked through the gate to freedom, Sam kept his head down, concealing the fire in his eyes. However, his tightened jaws and his clinched fists conveyed his feelings. Sam was angry and bitter, angry with society and authorities who had held him captive for almost 20 years - half his lifetime.
Unlike the other five who were released with him, Sam had difficulty adjusting to living out in society. He was a menace to those who lived with him in the group home. When Sam exploded the other members in the same home were scared out of their wits.
Then there were the times he showed signs of depression, when he stayed in his room all day huddled under the eiderdown and refused to eat. He resented any intervention by the young female assistant.
There were those who said that Sam was not only a problem in the group home but also at the day centre he attended. Some staff members felt that Sam should return to the large institution.
On hearing of this suggestion I stepped in and requested that he be allowed to move to the group home that I shared with others. Whether it was due to my age or my authority, Sam began to become more cooperative, helping with the ordinary household chores and showing less frequent outbursts of anger.
Around this time with help from our Columban supporters we started a horticultural workshop. A suggestion was put forward that Sam could benefit from this programme. Thoma the instructor was about 15 years older than Sam and in this Confucian culture that was important; Sam looked up to him. Thoma took a liking to him and you could see them chatting away as they mixed compost and planted cuttings and seedlings in trays.
In cutting hedges and pruning the trees around the centre, Sam found an outlet for his energy and began to leave behind some of the mental baggage he had brought with him from the institution. He took delight in watering the shrubs and flowers.
Touching and smelling the various herbs seemed to have a soothing effect on him. A smile began to show on his face and the fire smouldering in his eyes began to disappear. He became a more congenial person to live with.
Sam's new attitude opened the way for him to enter employment where he earns $700 a month as well as the self respect that comes with earning a wage. At the end of last year he qualified for a two room apartment for low incomers and has moved in. He no longer has a young assistant or an old grandpa like me telling him what to do. He is a free man.
Fr Noel O'Neill was ordained in 1956 and has spent his missionary life in Korea.
