1 cm in ETR - Episode 1: Life Accidents

What is this podcast about?

In the country of Luxembourg, there are a lot of persons with disabilities.

The word disability means: A person has difficulties, for example with walking. 

Or with hearing. 

Or with thinking. 

A lot of persons with disabilities work. 

But not all of them find work easily. 

In this podcast, we talk with persons with disabilities about their work.

Something we also want to say.

A lot of persons are not born with disabilities.

A lot of persons get their disabilities later in life.

For example: because of an accident. 

Or because of a sickness.            

This can happen to any person.

Julien

Julien is 45 years old.

He is a chef.

Chef means: He cooks food.

At the age of 15, he started working as a chef.

He worked in France and in the country of Luxembourg.

He also worked in a restaurant with 3 Michelin stars.

That is an award for a good restaurant.

Then Julien's life changed completely.

What happened to Julien?

One night, Julien's heart stopped beating.

This is called a heart attack.

His girlfriend noticed.

She tried to give first aid.

She called the emergency number 112.

The fire service arrived in 7 minutes.

They saved Julien.

Julien tells us what happened that night.

Julien says: he was very lucky.

His girlfriend saved his life.

And the fire service arrived very fast.

Life after the heart attack

After the heart attack, Julien had to relearn everything.

He had to relearn how to speak, walk and eat.

The heart attack also made thinking harder for Julien.

This is called a cognitive disability.

The word cognitive means: thinking and understanding.

Julien has difficulties with his short-term memory for example.

That means: he forgets very fast what just happened.

Julien explains how his life changed.

Julien says: he relearned everything.

Even speaking.

Julien looks for work.

Julien tried to go back to work as a chef.

He sent a lot of letters to find a job.

Some restaurants wanted to speak with him.

But it did not work out.

The restaurant wanted Julien to work very fast.

But Julien can not work fast anymore after his heart attack.

The sheltered workplace.

Julien then found the sheltered workplace.

In French, this is called: atelier d'inclusion professionnelle.

This is a workplace for persons with disabilities.

The work there is good for Julien.

There is less stress there.

The workers and managers are more patient and nice.

Julien now works at the Coopération in Wiltz.

There is a kitchen there.

He can work there as a chef.

Julien explains why things go well for him there.

Julien says: it works because nobody puts him under stress.

Stress would too much for him.

That is why it works so well.

Martina

Martina worked as a translator.

She worked at a computer company.

After 5 years, she got a new place to work.

She was the manager of a group of computer specialists.

She enjoyed that.

Then she went on holiday and had an accident.

Martina talks about her work before the accident.

Martina says: she enjoyed her work.

It was never boring.

What happened to Martina

Martina and her husband are scuba divers.

Scuba diving means: you go under water and look at everything.

They flew to Egypt to go diving.

While swimming to the surface, something went wrong.

Martina had a diving accident.

This is called a decompression accident.

The word decompression means:

The pressure in the body changes when you swim to the surface.

If this happens too fast, the body can be damaged.

Martina tells us about the accident.

Martina says: she went into the water normally.

While swimming to the surface, something went wrong.

She had a diving accident.

Martina then spent 2 weeks in a decompression chamber.

This is a special room made of metal.

In this room, the air is of very good quality.

The air has a lot of oxygen.

Oxygen is good for the body.

The oxygen helps Martina to get better.

She was then brought back to Luxembourg by rescue helicopter (Air-Rescue).

After that, she spent another month in hospital in Esch-sur-Alzette.

Martina's disabilities

The accident left Martina with a lot of disabilities.

She has paralysis in her legs.

That means: the legs do not work well.

She sometimes cannot control her movements.

In her left ear, she can hear almost nothing.

Martina explains her disabilities.

Martina says: she has trouble while walking.

Her legs are paralysed.

And in her left ear, she can hear almost nothing.

Martina's return to work

After one year of sickness, Martina wanted to go back to work.

That was clear to her.

She started with 2 hours of work per day.

In the morning before work, she had therapy.

Then she went to work.

Then she slept for the rest of the day.

It was very exhausting.

Martina tells us what returning to work was like.

Martina says: therapy, then 2 hours of work, then home.

And then she was completely tired.

After a while, Martina gave up her position as manager.

That was the right decision for her.

She also had a little girl.

Every morning therapy.

And a lot of work.

All of that together was too much.

As a simple translator, she could keep working.

She did that well for many years.

The problem with the parking space

In 2025, Martina's office moved.

The new office is far away.

Martina can not take the bus to work anymore.

With her disability, taking the bus has become too difficult.

She needs a parking space near the entrance of the company.

And she needs a parking space near the toilets.

She asked for a parking space by email.

Martina tells us what answer she got.

Martina says: the answer was: "Can't you take the bus?"

She was very shocked.

The new office had enough parking spaces.

But Martina did not get one.

What this stress did to Martina

For 2 months, Martina could not sleep well.

Her body did not have as much strength.

She could not walk well.

She was tired and sad.

Martina tells us how she was doing during that time.

Martina says: she could not sleep well.

She could not walk well.

She simply was not doing well.

Martina's husband says: all of this because of a parking space. 

Martina says: for a lot of persons, a parking space is nothing. 

But for her, a parking space is access to work.

In the end, Martina decided to take early retirement. 

That means: she stops working earlier than planned.

What is an atelier d'inclusion professionnelle?

It is a workplace for persons with disabilities. 

You need an official document to work there. 

This document says: the person has the status. 

The difficult word is: statut de salarié handicapé. 

This is an official document from the country of Luxembourg.

This document says that someone has a disability. 

With this document, you can apply for a job in the atelier. 

An official group of people decide if you can work there.

Working in an atelier is real work. 

The persons there have a real contract. 

They have real responsibilities. 

They work just like you and me.

Sarah Albrecht is the director of the Coopération in Wiltz. 

The Coopération is an atelier. 

Sarah Albrecht tells us what the work looks like there.

Sarah Albrecht says: The persons there have real responsibilities.

They really cook together with the team.

And they can take part in decisions.

How much money do you earn in an atelier d'inclusion professionnelle?

In an atelier you earn the minimum wage.

For Julien for example, that is less money than before.

Julien used to earn more money.

He hopes to one day receive the qualified minimum wage.

That is a little more money than the normal minimum wage.

He needs to work 2 years in the atelier for that.

Julien tells us what matters to him.

Julien says: he worked 30 years as a chef.

He wants those 30 years to be seen.

Julien hopes to earn more money again one day.

Where to get help?

Info Handicap is an organisation in the country of Luxembourg.

They help persons with disabilities.

Info Handicap gives information to persons.

They help persons with problems.

The Minister for Inclusion in the country of Luxembourg is called: Max Hahn.

In the country of Luxembourg, there is not yet a big place for questions and help.

The plan is called: One-Stop-Shop.

That means: one place where you can ask everything.

For example:

• How do I get a parking space?
   
• How do I find work?
   
• Where can I live?

This One-Stop-Shop already exists, but it is small.

For example: Info Handicap.

But the big One-Stop-Shop is still to come.

What we learned

The job market is often not good for persons with disabilities.

That needs to change.

Workplaces need to help persons with disabilities more.

You do not need to do a lot to help persons.

Sometimes it is just one centimetre.

Next part

In the next part, we talk with Michèle Vallenthini and Joël Schmit.

They are self-employed.

That means: they are their own boss.

Subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss any part.