Faiza Tehseen

Life is full of amazing and inspiring stories of people who didn’t let their disability confine them to bed or wheelchair for life and consumed every ounce of their energy and intellect to realize their cherished dream. Here is the story of an incredible person who made disability her strength and with dogged determination and perseverance founded an institution that helps physically weak but mentally endowed people to make a living with respect and dignity.

Ayesha Rehman was 12 when muscular dystrophy confined her to bed. She found the odds of the time heavily pitched against her but deep inside her calm and frail body raged a volcano of hope and determination to live life like a normal person and blaze the trail for millions of physically challenged people.

After graduation, she was keen to undertake master’s studies in any discipline, but after visiting a few reputed universities, she found that there was no special arrangement for wheelchair users to access the lecture halls. Desperate, she postponed joining any regular sessions and did her master’s in special education through a distance learning studies program.

The tough circumstances she was braving made her think that she should do something to empower the physically weak but mentally healthy people. To make a respectable place for themselves in society, three things were needed: psychological upbringing, education, and skills. So, her decision to help them paved her way to establish Disable’s Inclusive Welfare Association (DIA) in 2018.

Soon after the establishment of DIA in 2019, Covid-19 broke out in the world, confining people to their homes around the globe. A great number of people lost jobs. Even businesspeople were helpless. In the case of handicapped people, the situation was the worst. In these circumstances, DIA launched its first digital skills training program. Physically challenged people across Pakistan joined the programme, learned skills and started to support themselves and their families.

The DIA trained the people in web designing, graphic designing, multiple-type blogging, content writing, Amazon FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon), complete approach to MS Office, etc. Talking to WealthPK, she said if anyone demands a specific course that DIA can manage, they obviously do it. The minimum qualification required to get training from DIA is matriculation.

The DIA has trained around a hundred male and female students who are now living a life of financial independence.  With DIA as the platform, Ayesha is actively working to help the specially-abled ones get education at both junior and senior levels. ‘’Making the disabled ones an active part of the socioeconomic stream is my mission, and when people says disability is no more hindrance for them, I really feel proud,’’ Ayesha said.

According to the needs of the modern era, she planned to train the handicapped in digital skills. Through training in digital skills, one finds the whole world widely spread at their working desk, making them an active part of a smart economic cycle. She also worked to make blind people skillful in other ways.

Talking to WealthPK, Ayaan who got a disability at a young age due to shock from a short-circuit, said when his arm and leg got badly damaged in the accident, life was not easy for him. However, when he accessed DIA, he learned game blogging, as gaming was his area of utmost interest. After being trained in blogging and content writing, he is earning handsomely. Ayaan said DIA has enabled him to live a respectable life without having to depend on others for survival.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk