Wheelchair-bound Christa Brumant wants to be a baker

Christa Brumant wants to be a baker. While that might seem an achievable goal, her special needs make it challenging.

The 22-year-old Oropune Gardens resident was one of earliest recipients of the Children’s Life Fund established under the People’s Partnership administration. Brumant was left paralysed from the waist down after a battle with transverse myelitis at ten. She is now wheelchair-bound.

Transverse myelitis “is an inflammation of both sides of one section of the spinal cord,” Mayoclinic.org says.

The disease can cause pain, muscle weakness, paralysis, sensory problems, or bladder and bowel dysfunction, it added.

Fast forward 12 years and several surgeries later, Christa has achieved CSEC passes in principles of business and English A and now wants to start her own bakery.

However, she is unsure that dream can be realised in Trinidad and Tobago as there are limited opportunities for people with special needs.

Brumant said she was interested in the culinary arts even as a child and was curious about aspects of the art like mixology.

“Then I got sick and I did not think I could pursue that kind of dream as one has to be pretty active as a chef.”

For a while Brumant did not focus on her dream until about 2018 into 2019, when prompted by her best friend, Jhade Mitchell.

“My best friend, out of the blue, just asked me, ‘What is it you want to do with your life?’ I said I wanted to own a bakery and she asked why I couldn’t do it.”

She told Mitchell of some of her challenges she would have to face like counter space and lifting and moving things.

While she doubted being able to do it, her friend told her she could and she’d simply have to find an alternative way of doing so.

This spurred her to look into schools and spaces where she could train. Mitchell also helped with that.

“She would randomly send me schools to keep the dream alive. And I said, ‘You know what, I can do this.’”

While she has identified a school and is awaiting word on acceptance, funding is already posing a challenge for Brumant as transportation costs would also have to be considered.

Brumant’s mother, Ramona Eligon-Mansano has guided her throughout her young life, telling her that anything she puts her mind to she can do and she simply needs to find different techniques to get it done.

She learns new ways of getting things done with each recipe she tries. The Brumant/Mansano kitchen in the small apartment isn’t outfitted with equipment to accommodate her special needs but she has found novel ways of baking things like carrot bread.

While right now Brumant is unable to afford the reachers/grabbers that would assist her in the kitchen, she hopes to, one day, have a kitchen fully outfitted to meet her needs.

“I face challenges every day and the one thing I have proven to myself is I can overcome. Whatever is thrown my way, when it comes to culinary school life, not only am I forced to face it but I am ready and willing to face it,” Brumant said.

One day she also wants to build her own culinary school where everyone – able-bodied or not – could attend.

While TT has made some strides in greater inclusivity for special-needs people, Brumant thinks more needs to be done to allow special-needs people to live their dreams.

“Ever since I was young and I had this happen, I had dreams of me being super rich and then helping TT get there but the country is not there yet. I would love for us to be there.”

She said even with simple things like curb ramps, access to transportation there was a deficit in the country.

In TT, special education is co-ordinated through the Ministry of Education’s Student Support Services Division.

The only assistance Brumant wants is to fulfil her educational dreams so she could take care of herself.

“I had to come out of the public school system because there weren’t facilities for me. My primary school did the best that they could. I just want more accessibility.

“I love my country but I also don’t want to live here because things aren’t made accessible for me like the sidewalks and the buses. Even certain buildings don’t have ramps and it feels like there is no priority in putting them in.

“I want to go out and explore my country and I can’t do that.”

She also has plans of taking her culinary studies further.

No matter what happens, Brumant is sure that her mother and the lessons she taught her is always going to be her guide.

Even though Eligon-Mansano had a stroke in 2016 which left her with contractures (a permanent tightening of the muscles, tendons, skin, and nearby tissues that causes the joints to shorten and become very stiff), unable to move her left arm and leg properly, she is doing all that she can for her daughter.

Although the family was unable to outfit the kitchen for Brumant, they have found unique ways to encourage her love for baking like having a special space for the mixing of her ingredients.

“It is more to her level at a higher level. I also assist her with putting things in the oven,” Eligon-Mansano said.

“I have tried to encourage a lot in terms of who she is. I have always said to her, ‘You are not just someone who is in a wheelchair. You are a person and have enough to contribute. You have a lot of value.”

But whatever happens, Eligon-Mansano is willing to ensure her daughter lives her dream and contributes to the society in the way she is happiest doing so.