Tath Nika is blind and incredibly resilient. Despite meeting multiple barriers as a blind girl since she was one year old, she has transformed herself into a massage therapist entrepreneur.
Nika, 47, who is from Kampong Speu, became visionless due to measles, and despite being visually impaired, she fights on with life amid a world of discrimination against her and people with disabilities.
She is also a voice for people with disabilities, urging the world to eliminate discrimination by providing equal job opportunities.
According to a 2021 UN Information Note, persons with disabilities in Cambodia face inequality and discrimination in access to education, healthcare, social protection, justice, and public transport.
At a regional workshop in Phnom Penh, an assessment revealed that the capital’s buses and bus stops are ill-equipped to cater to people with disabilities due to inadequate lighting at night, damaged shelters, high pavements, and a lack of information boards.
As people with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to violence and violations of their basic human rights, as the UN Information Note pointed out, women with disabilities face additional discrimination and barriers when accessing services compared to men with disabilities.
As for Nika, who has operated Nika’s Seeing Hands Massage Therapy Center on Street 95 in Boeung Keng Kang III commune since 2011, discrimination and sexual harassment are common, including customers asking for sexual favors.
“Some clients are impolite and ask for sexual favors. It has not been simple to overcome the misconception by some people that massage is associated with sexual activity,” Nika told Kiripost in a recent interview.
“We often face stereotypes and discrimination for our physical disabilities from both within the families and communities we live in,” she added.
Since she was a little child, Nika has battled discrimination and belittlement from neighbors and society. Despite this, the experiences did not bring her down. Instead, they have inspired her to face the challenges in life by continuing to study and improve herself more.
Give us a chance
Even with her disability, she wished to demonstrate to others her worth, capabilities, and dignity rather than focus on her own disabilities.
“To all disabled people, I encourage you to raise your voices to the environment for our cause, saying that even though we are capable, our employment options are limited, and most of the work we do is not valued by society," Nika said.
"I wanted to urge the public not to discriminate and isolate us on the edges of society. It's enough for us to have physical disabilities that prevent us from seeing the world, don't add emotional trauma and keep our disabilities for entertainment.”
Nika said even though she is blind, her mind can see and she will not let her disability take over her own life.
“We can take care of your pain and problems with our power of touch, and our ability makes us special. So give us a chance, and if you don’t give us a chance, you won’t know our capabilities," she added.
We don't know where to ask for help
Nika urged the government and relevant ministries to pay more attention to people with disabilities, solve problems, and deeply understand what people with disabilities need.
“We don't know where to ask for help. Most blind and visually impaired people are asking for basic support and opportunities that allow them access, such as education, employment, the acquisition of practical skills, and jobs, where they can support themselves, as well as the opportunity to participate in social activities.”
Nika added that especially for blind singers along the streets in Phnom Penh, authorities have made it difficult for them and sometimes detain them for illegally signing in public.
“They should provide better intervention and solutions that are convenient for the handicapped,” she said.
Not a burden on the family
Sitting on a sofa on the phone to a guest, Nika has light skin and black curly hair and is the youngest of five children in her family.
Determined that she did not want to be a burden to others and her family, Nika’s alternatives were limited because there are not many job prospects for blind people. With support from her family, Nika struggled to learn English until she became proficient. At the age of 17, she enrolled in a massage therapy training program at Maryknoll’s Center NGO for Rehabilitation for the Blind in Phnom Penh.
“I began studying massage in 1995 under the instruction of a blind Cambodian massage master from Canada. These invaluable massage skills allowed me to earn an income and be self-sufficient for the first time.”
After finishing training in 1997, Nika began her working full-time career in a massage parlour.
In 2004, she got a scholarship from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to learn the most advanced techniques in Japanese massage styles and leadership skills in Thailand, graduating in 2008.
Over the years, she has traveled the globe, sharing her skills and experience with blind and visually impaired people, particularly in post-conflict contexts such as South Sudan and Myanmar.
Through learning, she has transformed into a teacher, traveling across the world to teach massage therapy techniques, and went on to begin her own business as a blind social entrepreneur.
Nika says the purpose of establishing her business was to encourage and provide employment opportunities in a supportive and nurturing atmosphere for fellow visually impaired people.
“When I started this massage therapy center, I thought it would provide blind people with a safe environment to work where they will not be taken advantage of, they will receive a fair income, and live a life of dignity since people with disabilities have been denied formal opportunities to live comfortably and improve their lives," she said.
