When Steve Robertson learned that a little from Afghanistan was enrolling in the school where he is assistant principal, he was amazed to learn she had suffered an illness that cost her the use of her hands and arms. She wrote with her feet and toes but the school desks weren't designed for that. He came up with a solution that helped the little girl. The name has been left out on purpose.
The Platform and the Little Girl
October 15, 2001
I had a pretty neat thing happen to me. I am an assistant principal at a local middle school here in Jacksonville, Florida. One Friday in a faculty meeting, our principal announced that we would be getting a new student. He said what was remarkable was that she was from Afghanistan and had concocted a high fever when she was a baby and consequently, lost the use of her arms. He said the child (an 8th grader) had hidden in her house in Afghanistan and learned to read and write from her brother's school books. (At the time, Afghani girls were not allowed to be educated.) Further, she would sit on the floor and write with her feet! Although she speaks no English, she has already learned to write her abc's. He said: "Now, do we let her sit on the floor or do we design a platform for her or what? I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see."
I decided right then that I would make a platform whether she used it or not. I couldn't imagine her turning one down. I'm pretty handy with tools, so Saturday, I started gathering materials together from the local lumber yard and from some I already had and made a platform. It was four feet long, two feet wide and raised above the floor one foot. I cut a handle in the very front and designed the rear so that two lawn mower wheels would only be engaged when the front was lifted so that it could be rolled from class to class. I glued carpet on the rear half and screwed down plexiglass on the front to act as a writing surface. I painted it black. It was put together with glue and screw locks. Since I used spruce, it was very light, but very strong due to the glue and screw locks.
I brought it to school yesterday (Monday) and everyone was pretty surprised. The little girl hadn't enrolled yet but I found out later that she would be coming in that afternoon for afternoon studies so I showed her teacher the platform and asked if I could give it to the child and meet her when she showed up. She agreed.
That afternoon, I was in the main office and the teacher walked in with the child. The little girl was tiny, standing less than 4 feet tall and was very slight of build. Her arms were stunted in growth and she walked sort of like a tyrannosaurs rex with those little arms. Her head slowly bobbed spasmodically (as I think there was neurological damage). But she shyly displayed a huge smile when she was introduced to me. We walked her into the principal's office, where I had left the platform. She had her brother with her to act as translator. She met Dr. Reynolds and flashed another huge smile. When we pulled the platform out and set it down on the floor, her teacher explained that I had made it for her, it was hers if she would like to use it. It almost brought a tear to my eye to see the pure glee in her face. In her hard times, I don't think she had ever had many really nice things done for her. Her brother told us that she would like to try it out which we said was fine.
The little girl sat down on the platform and pulled off her shoes and wiped the hair off of her forehead with one of her feet. She looked up and grinned again. OOOh, chillbump time. After testing the platform out for a few minutes, she put her shoes back on and her brother took the handle of the platform and she walked with him and the teacher as he rolled it back to the guidance office where the lessons would be held after school. She did not use her hands at all.
When I finished dismissing all of the school buses, I walked over to the guidance office. There were about five foreign children sitting at a round table with the teacher. The little girl sat proudly on her platform, her spelling book open on the plexiglassed front section. She held a pencil between two of her toes and she was writing on notebook paper on the "desk area" of the platform. Ironically, it was like she had her own magic carpet and it probably seemed like it to her. Again, she looked up at me and grinned. When I said "grinned," the little girl's face would explode with the most endearing grin you can imagine. It was so powerful that it just about took over her being. The next day, little girl was escorted to my office where she presented me with a beautifully colored sheet of paper. Using her toes, she had lettered and colored, "Thank You Mr. Robertson." Her grin was the most sincere I have ever witnessed.
Some story, huh! Needless to say, it made my day. Well it goes on. The little girl had to have another student help her to get the platform from class to class and it was quite a bit of trouble moving it 6 times a day. I got another idea. I drew up a set of plans for the platform, complete with measurements and dimensions. I knew a couple of the school board carpenters so I approached them with my idea. I wanted the school board carpenters to make a platform for every classroom
The carpenter was very excited about the chance to do some good Samaritan work so he took the plans to his foreman and asked for permission. The foreman was excited too so they built six platforms. One was for her to be able to take home. When they delivered them they were beautiful and an exact replica of the one I had made except they didn't need wheels and they had used magnificent birch laminated 3/4 inch plywood and had varnished them with a clear coat. The little girl made me another thank you note.
The platforms worked ideally. A couple months later, however, little girl suffered painful complications from her condition and stopped coming to school. That summer, I received a phone call from her. She had been learning English and wanted to talk to me. Although, I had trouble understanding her, that didn't matter. It was wonderful that I had been able to be the Good American for this child.
The next school year, I learned that the little girl had enrolled in a local High School. Since we still had the platforms, I phoned the guidance counselor and explained about the platforms. I asked her if the school would like for us to send them over for her to use. She was delighted and so I loaded them on a truck and took them over. The little girl still uses the platforms to this day.
Great story, Steve. It is really heart warming to hear things like this. Hats off to you!
Carmen
Reviewed by Kate Clifford
2/2/2004
Deborah has such great taste in writes! She sent me too :-) This is a very deep heart touching write and its great knowing there are people like you out there. Thank you for sharing such a delightful experience with us!
Reviewed by Anna Marie Fritz
2/2/2004
I'm glad that Deb told me about this lovely story,
Steve!
There should be more like you in the world!
What a wonderful story, Steve. It's so good to see that angels such as yourself abound everywhere. Thank you for what you did for her; surely she's been blessed by a true angel.
The Platform and the Little Girl
