By Marie-Claude Pelchat | Project Leader
A young burn survivor is looking for an apartment, but it’s not going so well. As he meets with various landlords, they seem to find excuses not to rent to him:
“Are you sure that you want to live here? I'm afraid that the other tenants will not like it.”When he leaves, the landlords are more frank about their reasons:
“Is it contagious?”To mark Face Equality Day on May 17, Sunshine Foundation produced a short film which captured some of the prejudices and lack of awareness encountered by burn survivors in their daily lives. See the Face Equality film here.
This film is about apartment-hunting, but it also could have been about applying for a job, getting a seat at the restaurant or any other situation in which burn survivors are confronted to subtle prejudice or open discrimination.
The actor in this film is 18 year-old Chi-Hong who was injured last year during the June 27 Formosa Fun Coast Water Park Explosion. Having sustained burns over 80% of his body, Chi-Hong had to interrupt his studies and is now undergoing intensive rehabilitation at Sunshine Foundation.
During the Face Equality Day celebrations held in Taipei, Chi-Hong shared how this issue resonated with him and why it was important for him to be part of this project. Although society is still full of warmth and generally accepting of differences, inevitably, there are still some people who do not understand what burn survivors must go through to return to a normal life. Chi-Hong says: “Some people will say we were injured as a retribution for bad karma from a past life. Others say we were injured because we’re kids who like to party and have fun instead of staying at home to study. We didn’t ask for this to happen to us. We, and any person for that matter, should be treated with more empathy, respect and friendliness.”
As more burn survivors from the Formosa Fun Coast Water Park Explosion like Chi-Hong recover and complete their rehabilitation program, they will return to their normal life in society: to school, to work, among family and friends. It is important that they are treated fairly, with respect and that is why Face Equality Day is held annually on May 17, to raise awareness about the issue of discrimination based on appearance and change people’s attitudes towards facial disfigurement. Sunshine believes that irrespective of facial appearance, every person deserves to be treated fairly and equally. We hope that the value of every person will be determined by their unique contribution to society, and not by how they look.
Your support can help Sunshine Foundation achieve its goal and we invite you to participate in GlobalGiving’s Bonus Day. Starting on June 15 at 9:00am US Eastern time (June 15 at 21:00 Taiwan time), GlobalGiving will be matching gifts made to Sunshine Foundation.
Support Sunshine’s efforts to give burn survivors in Taiwan access to rehabilitation: https://goto.gg/10558
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