LN – Muriel Santa Ana and “the footprint” left by the quarantine

When some days ago the actress

Muriel Santa Ana

He opened his WhatsApp and saw that Fernando, his brother-in-law, had sent him a photo of the lawn of his house, he did not understand the message. You could see a “worn” area next to a text that said

“Quarantine is leaving its mark”

. First, she assumed that her nephews were using the garden more, but the answer to her question was a cold water basin: “No,

is Lucas

that comes and goes, “Fernando explained to him. The mark on the grass was the round-trip steps of his older nephew, who is 26 years old and has a disability;

was the groove of his walk

, his intense and visible walk of a month of mandatory isolation.

“It is

a very strong image

. It took me a few days to process it, but it made me connect with the love I have for Lucas, “Muriel tells LA NACION, a day after publishing the photo.

On Instagram

, with a text that goes beyond his personal history and questions society’s view of disability. ”

It’s a footprint that we don’t want to look at

. We reject it out of fear and ignorance. Luckily, it is there, because this time Lucas made a groove that is impossible not to see, “wrote the actress.

He says he made the publication without imagining the impact it would have. “I did it for him

love

I have for my nephew, for his journey, for his enormous effort. I witnessed the work he has been doing since he was little, his

advances and setbacks

. I have cried with sadness and joy with my sister Moira and her husband, “she details.

For Muriel, the perspective that opens

the quarantine

It allows us to stop looking at situations that in other scenarios society usually relegates. “It seemed important to me at this moment to put an image of that that we did not tolerate,” he emphasized.

I had never spoken publicly about the issue of disability

, but I felt that I had to make myself visible. ”

For the actress, who plays Lorena Raimundi in the miniseries

The tiger Verón

and that he would have started recording another strip this April had it not been for the pandemic, the context of

isolation

“puts everything in white on black,

things are contrasted

, that’s what impacts “. For this reason, he considered it appropriate to invite reflection on what happens to children, youth and adults who have different disabilities and who must face these

unpublished circumstances

with different tools and resources, and that perhaps, even having financial possibilities or family support, they cannot process what is happening.

Muriel feels that although there was some progress,

people with disabilities are still not “socially registered”

In other words, “they are not contemplated in a normal situation and, in the pandemic, not even speak.” From his point of view, “society is not inclusive, there is little understanding and there is not yet full inclusion.”

In this scenario, the actress highlights that the small increase in visibility and empathy was achieved thanks to the struggle of the parents and the people who work in health. Also

It is critical of the little space that this group usually has in fiction

and on television in general. His explanation is blunt: “Minorities are not reflected because they may not sell. Now you see some characters with autism or Asperger syndrome, but very little.”

It also ensures that it is important

revalue the range of people who work and assist people with disabilities

and that “they are superprotected”. His nephew continues to receive some of his therapies and activities during the quarantine, something that in the first days was not happening for everyone, but the resolutions were changing dynamically and today it is considered an essential activity. “Those who do therapies or supports do double, the type of effort not to let go of their hands at this time. Even, without knowing if they are going to get paid,” laments Muriel, stressing: “The area of ​​disability was totally underfunded by the previous president, Mauricio Macri. That is also a world that is made visible by posting. ”

Although he had limited comments, he received many messages from

parents or relatives of children with disabilities

, who felt represented in his words and added anecdotes. One was from another actress,

Inés Estévez

, who thanked him for making the subject visible and told a story with his daughter Vida. He had taken her out for a regular walk with latex gloves – he clarified that he does not wear a mask because “it is a danger, he would touch it non-stop” – when they passed a man. Vida greeted him and asked: “Are you the President?” The man, with a smile, told her that it was not Alberto Fernández, and she finished: “Oh, because I wanted to say thanks for letting me go out for a walk.”

Until last weekend, people with disabilities and the autism spectrum were not allowed

leave their houses

, something that in many cases is essential, since confinement can bring disruptive behavior due to the change in abrupt habits. Lucas has not yet made use of that possibility. “It still hasn’t come out because they are evaluating the cost-benefit, not exposing it to a possible contagion. But it is very good if necessary,” says Muriel.

After several requests from social organizations and parents, last Saturday he joined as

exception the circulation

of people with disabilities and those included in the group of autism spectrum disorder who really require it. The

stable standard

than

they can go out three times a week

-the days depend on the last ID number- with a companion, for short walks, no more than 500 meters from your home. The requirements are to carry the document and the Unique Certificate of Disability (CUD) or the medical prescription where the diagnosis and the need for exits are indicated, which can be made digitally.

”

The footprint is imposed

. It is imposed on me. Perhaps because it is necessary to reflect on empathy and practice it. And because I long for this pain to be useful.

In a stopped world, Lucas walks

“, concluded the post of Muriel. Among so many bad and sad news, his gaze invites us to take advantage of the time of this” detained world “to think and be attentive to the need, to” the mark “, of which society so many times prefers not to see.

FURTHER