KALPOINT.com (KPDC): Please tell us something about yourself, your education, family & brought up.

Mr. Muhammad Akram (MA): My name is Muhammad Akram and I use "Danish" as nick (Takhalus) for poetry. In the beginning, the life was normal. But life is a risk itself - I got seriously sick when I was teenager. With the help of ALMIGHTY ALLAH and good care of my family, my life was saved but unfortunately I lost my hearing power. At the start I thought I'll get my hearing power back soon, as my family and Doctor told me that it'll be alright (but that was not true). We tried here and there; consulted doctors at Civil, National, J.J. and Aga Khan Hospitals and even tried Chinese Acupuncture but nothing worked.

At this stage I realized that I had lost my hearing power forever. I got disappointed. I used to ask myself; how can I face this? I can't do anything. During that time, my family helped me a lot. They knew that it was hard for me to pass the time and so my brother brought a computer for me in 1989. I started playing computer games but then I thought of doing something valuable. There was no cure for my deafness but I decided that I should try my best no matter what, even if I fail, I'll get experience with this. I talked to my family to let them know that I am interested in Computer Diploma, they encouraged me, but the big hurdle was unavailability of computer institute for deaf students. I was a little afraid, but I decided to go with hearing students. Initially, we visited some nearby small computer institutes (response was not good neither bad). Then I saw an ad from "Petroman Computer Institute". At that time Pertoman was pioneer in computer education. We visited the Admin officer, Mr. Shakeel Ur Rehman. He appreciated me and offered me some class prior to admission. The teacher at Pertoman was cooperative (Special thanks to Mr. Javad Akhtar, instructor at Petroman). When I joined the institute, I used to think that I might not be able to pass my Diploma but at least I'll learn something so I should try it. I got admitted and tried my best. In the first test I got 8.75 marks out of 10 and there was only one other student who got the same marks, none got better than me. This minor test changed my life and my thoughts. I continued to compete with hearing students and was often successful.

I failed in course of "Electronic Data Processing" twice, but I didn't give up until I finally achieved my Diploma. This gave me confidence and I realized that life does not lie on hearing, it is your will - if there is a will nothing can stop you. I met good and bad people in my life, some appreciated me and some laughed at me. But I didn't care about the negative attitudes. Now I know how to ignore those peoples and how to beat them. After my diploma I graduated in Commerce (B. Com) then got a Certificate in Computer Maintenance, then became a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) and did many other courses such as A+ certification, Oracle, web development etc. I want to tell all the disabled people that you can compete with "able" people and even can prove yourself better than them. At the same time, I want to request "able" people that they should not underestimate or hesitate to give Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) a chance to prove their abilities. They can compete with others, they can beat others, just give them a chance. I think the mind-set can be changed with the help of motivation. This motivation comes from a role model or someone who encourages you. Usually, we fail because we think negative; if we go about something with a positive approach then everything becomes possible.

KPDC: How would you define the struggle which you did throughout your life? What motivated you to never give up?

MA: The real source of motivation for me is the success. If you are successful in something than you never go back. I took admission in Petroman in 1992. When I entered the class first time I was worried whether I would be able to be successful. But then when I got the highest marks in the test, my mind-set changed. I realized that I am not inferior to anyone else. That success was the biggest source of motivation for me.

KPDC: When and how did you decide to work for the welfare of special people? How did you find others in this movement of yours?

MA: For about 15 years I remained at home. I did my Intermediate and B. Com while remaining at home. I didn’t go to any school or college. Then I started chatting on internet. One day I encountered Ms. Irene Dine. She was working with Association of Physically Handicap in Thailand (APHT). When I informed her that I am in the computer field, she asked if I can help her in building website for APHT. I agreed and designed a website for APHT, and then she suggested that, I should not waste my talent sitting alone at home, instead I should utilize my talent for local disabled communities. This was a good advice.

I visited Social welfare Department and asked for the list of NGOs working for the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and then I selected Pakistan Association of the Deaf (PAD) and became a volunteer for PAD. It was late 2000. Later, in early 2001, I joined Deaf Friends International (DFI) as a remote / virtual volunteer web designer. In September I became Junior Editor, and in June 2002 I became Assistant Director at DFI. Later Irene moved back to Philippines and start Heaven Care Resource Center Inc. (HCRCI) and I joined her there too. I also had a chat-mate from Philippines name Gilda, she is a deaf girl. Some time ago she decided to leave her job and do something else. She started Deaf Tour Assistance, Philippines (DTAP) and asked me to help, so I joined her at DTAP. During this time, PAD requested me for more support; they first assigned me as Advisor then also as Special Project Coordinator. Nowadays I am volunteering at PAD, DFI (USA), HCRCI (Philippines), DTAP (Philippines), Matahariku (Indonesia), ASHA (Rural Sindh - Pakistan) and SDF (an alliance of Disabled People Organizations of Sindh-Pakistan).

KPDC: Please tell us something about Danishkadah? What was the real motivation behind it? What is the scope its activities?

MA: I met Mr. Ghulam Nizamani who lives in Sangarh once. Two of his children are also deaf. I suggested him to join me and let’s work together. I also suggested that we should bring all the efforts of NGOs to a single point. We formed SDF (Sindh Disability Forum). My plan was to work at back stage and support this forum with idea and projects, as I did with PAD. We had a couple of meetings and worked for quite some time, but then I realized that it was difficult to work together with all these organizations. I wanted to do some practical work rather than getting involved into politics. In the past, I had worked with PAD and gave many new projects and played a vital role in restructuring PAD, but PAD only works for the deaf while I wanted to work for all the disable people, my dream is “inclusive society for all” so I formed ‘Danishkadah’. I wanted to work with a specific target in mind.

I often go abroad and there I see different facilities which the disable people enjoy but in Pakistan we don’t see these facilities. I want to work in this area through the platform of Danishkadah.

KPDC: Do you think Danishkadah has produced the results which you dreamt of?

MA: Actually, Danishkadah is very new to produce any concrete results. It was registered about 2 years back but I was busy with Irfan (President) and Mansoor (General Secretary that time) restructuring the PAD. Now when I think PAD is doing very well, I have started concentrating more on Danishkadah from this year. I held a seminar and workshop on “disaster and disability” which was lead by Ms. Galuh Sukmara, who is deaf leader and studying at La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia. Also I organized a seminar on ‘deaf education’ with Ms. Zara Husain, who is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. We have also started an online course for PWDs and the response from all over the world is amazing. More than 40 participants from 21 countries have been registered for this online course.

Moreover, talks are underway for a piece of land for ‘Knowledge Park’ and if we get that piece of land we would be able to work in a better way.

KPDC: What, in your view, must be done in Pakistan to change society's attitude towards special people? How can such people try to change it?

MA: First the government needs to frame a policy for the protection of the rights of disable people. If there are clear procedures, people would take care of the rights of disable people. If there is no policy, there would be no compulsion for the people to support the disable people. Secondly, the disable people must have the will to progress. They should take someone as a role-model and should not get hopeless because they have some sort of disability.

Government says a lot but does very little. For example in connection with promotion of information accessibility, I have told the former minister IT Sindh government that we don’t need money from government and we can support government in making their website accessible for all. But government never bothered to proceed any further on this issue of information accessibility. Another thing is that we should let the people of Pakistan know what developments have been carried out in foreign countries so that they would get motivation. If others can do this we can also do it. For this purpose, websites can be used effectively to provide information to the people.

KPDC: Do we offer enough chances to the special people as far as education is concerned?

MA: I think there are no significant educational opportunities for the special people in Pakistan. For example, I want to do Masters in Software Development but I don’t know any place where I can go and conduct my studies. For deaf people the main problem is communication. For physically disable people, there are other many barriers. So all these problems create hurdles for the disable people. So we need to minimize these hurdles and create better education opportunities for special people. A lot needs to be done in this regard.

KPDC: This is the age of information technology. Do you think IT has created new opportunities for the handicapped?

MA: IT can be really useful for the development of special people. IT can create miracles but it has to be used effectively. For example, now we can do shopping, business etc. via internet. But we need to create an environment for IT. Then, of course, education is also very critical. If there is no education it’s very hard to develop. There are many deaf artists but their work is not promoted. In other countries, such work is highly promoted and marketed. Secondly, there are great opportunities for online business. Software development is also one field which can be very helpful for special people. For that we need to provide proper education and training to them and then properly market them. I want to contribute some efforts to this area through the platform of our Knowledge Park at Danishkadah.

Unfortunately, in our country IT institutes have not done a great job in this area. Only Office Automation is taught to the special people, which is only helpful to a limited extent. I would suggest that IT institutes like KalSoft Academy should try to provide advanced IT education to special people. I also say that we need to assess the market demand and on the basis of market demand, we should design specific courses. We have announced some online courses on our website and a number of candidates have registered for these courses. Many candidates have applied from other countries including countries like USA, Malaysia, South Africa, Vietnam, Philippines etc.

IT can also do a great work in terms of developing assisting technologies / devices for the special people. These assisting technologies / devices are available in other countries but these are very costly if we import them from abroad. Instead if we could produce these equipments in our country, the same devices can be developed at a lesser expense.

KPDC: What role do you think parents of special children can play in making their children a useful component of the society?

MA: I think the best thing that parents can do is to provide proper education and quality time to their children. If you don’t give time to the special children in their initial stage, then it would be difficult for them once they grow up. Children with disabilities need special attention and care. Once the children got basic education and grip on the language, it would be easier for them to develop in the later stages of their lives. Usually, in our country parents ignore the special children and as a result they spoil the life of their children. Usually, parents get their deaf child admitted in a deaf school and then forget about the extra care he/she may expect. Parents think that teacher will educate their deaf child well. In fact without parent’s special care deaf child can hardly get enough education from school. If parents give proper time and care to their child at home, the child will be able to communicate better and his/her personality will also develop. I know some children with same level of hearing loss, one got better grip on the language than the other just because her mother gave particular care at home.

KPDC: What future plans do you have for yourself and for Danishkadah?

MA: The future plan for Danishkadah is the “Knowledge Park”. This park will contain a library. This library will provide a platform where our people will be able to access information through books,manuals, research papers and other materials. They will also be able to share information with people from all around the world. We will also try to liaison with the universities for their research projects. We will provide projects to the students conducting research; these projects will be based on the problems which Persons with Disabilities experience so that the research can be of some use to the society. Additionally, we have plans to provide training to the special people according to the demand of the market. So the main future project for Danishkadah is Knowledge Park and its scope is quite wide. Talks are underway for a piece of land for this project. I only need a small piece of land where we can have 2 big rooms for library and training centre and 1 room for office. There are not a great number of memberships at Danishkadah. Instead, we believe that there should be few but committed, skilled members who can produce the results. We also want to form a Think-Tank to address our problems. Instead of holding demonstrations, we will all sit together and address our issues.

KPDC: Government has allocated 2% employment quota for special people. Do you think this is sufficient?

MA: Actually there is no proper database and information available to the government. Government should try and see in which departments the employment quota for special people is followed. But for this we have to have concrete information in the form of database. Government doesn’t know how many deaf people are there in Pakistan. For example, I went to NADRA office to get my ID card. I told them that I can’t hear. But when I saw the filled form of ID card, they didn’t mention anything about my disability. When I indicated this to them, they apologized. There would be thousands of people who have some type of disability but they are not registered. NADRA can provide accurate database which can also be used for special people but only because of their negligence, we have not been able to effectively use it.

If we have accurate information about the disable people we would be in a better position to develop plans according to their requirements.

I personally believe that quota is NOT the right path for employment of Persons with Disabilities. Quality education and training with equal opportunity in job market is the right approach for employment. But for this we need to change the mind-sets. Generally, when an employer gets to know about the disability of applicant s/he dumps the application and never proceeds. Even, the applicant is not called for initial interview. I myself experienced this discrimination and it used to happen in USA too (Ref: Ms. Nancy Kingsley note in ALDA news - Fall 2008, Volume 24, Issue 4). But now they have American with Disability Act (ADA) and if they feel they are discriminated they can sue the employer. I think we need similar Act along with quality education.

KPDC: What message would you like to convey to youth of Pakistan, especially those who have any kind of disability?

MA: My message to the special people would be that try to change your mind-set. If you think positively, you can change your life. Secondly, there should be unity among different associations.
Because of lack of unity, our efforts are scattered. If we work together we can be more effective. Thirdly, if we have some information we should share it with others. If you have some idea and when you share it, someone else may be able to work on this idea more effectively.

And finally HOPE is the door of STRUGGLE that eventually brings SUCCESS, so never lose hope, and never sit back.

Question: In villages etc., the parents of a special child generally think that begging could be the only mode for him to survive. What steps do you think should be implemented to make them understand and trust the other side of the child? Has your organization done anything in this regard?
(Ismaeel Khan ,London)

MA: The main problem is that there is lack of literacy in the villages. Not only the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) but also the non-disabled people have very little opportunities. If they don’t have education and access to information they cannot think anything better than making their “disabled child” a beggar. Illiterate parents who usually do not have access to information make such decisions.

Education is very important for the development of everyone whether he or she has disability or not. Because of lack of basic education, there is no facility in skill development of special children. As a result they are unable to find a job in the job market. Secondly, If a person has grown up and since it’s difficult to educate grown ups, we should try to provide self-employment opportunities to them by training to improve their skills in a certain area through which they can earn their bread.

Danishkadah hasn’t done a lot in this area but we have plans to work in this area in the future. Particularly for deaf persons in rural areas, I have drafted a project “Education and Leadership” for PAD. In this project we have plans to bring some talented deaf persons from rural areas; educate them, train them and send them back to share their knowledge with their peers in rural areas, and start their own self-help organizations in their localities. These self-help organizations with support form PAD will raise awareness of development and bring change INSHAALLAH. I named them “Leaders – the agents of change”. PAD is looking for sponsorship for this project and I hope this project will set new example for other associations working for other type of Persons with Disabilities.

Question: How do you see the role of other organizations for deaf like Pakistan Association of Deaf etc.? Are they doing well enough for the welfare of deaf? (Tabassum Iqbal, Lahore)


MA: I think PAD is doing a great work. In the last few years we have entirely changed the infrastructure of PAD. On one hand we have initiated education projects and on the other hand we are working on networking. In Karachi I think PAD is doing a great work but in the interior Sindh there is not much work done. There are some organizations but they lack skills and coordination. Now we have about 11 organizations linked with PAD. We have been conducting meetings in Karachi. These meetings are attended by one or two representatives from other organizations. But now we have permitted our PAD affiliated members to arrange annual meetings in their city/town and share the information with the local organizations. This will enable more deaf people from that particular city/town to attend meetings.

In the past we did work within a limited scope; we offered basic education and sign language sessions but now its scope has expanded. I like to thank Kalia Group for offering assistance to PAD in promoting IT education by providing computer systems. This will help PAD to start new computer courses especially in Graphic Designing field, which would benefit deaf students much more.

One more thing I’d like to mention that it is very easy to criticize, but it is very hard to work and bring results. Especially when we are juggling between our job, family responsibilities and this development work for our peers. I often hear that PAD did nothing in marriage counseling. I suggested Ms. Shahida (Chairperson Women wing of PAD) to start more gathering programs for families. We arranged some gatherings but honestly speaking no one can do much in this regard. So parents should try to understand PAD’s limitations and instead of complaining they should extend their support if they can. I hope PAD will welcome all the suggestions and support to improve the marriage counseling affairs of deaf people.

Question: How do you see the employment opportunities for special people? Do you think organizations welcome the special but talented individuals equally to any normal person? What would you suggest in this regard? (Rehan Aziz, Dubai)

MA: If I apply for job somewhere they would only see that he is a deaf and they would not further process the application. They even don’t test the talent of the disable person. The general perception is that a disable person would be a burden on the organization. There is not a good market for job. There are some people who support like HBFC, NADRA, KFC etc. they provide low-level jobs like data entry operator. They lack the ability of reading, writing etc. so they don’t get the higher level jobs.

Another basic problem is that of language. If a deaf person doesn’t have grip on language then it would be very difficult for him or her to proceed. For example if I am a graphic designer, I can only be successful if I am able to communicate with others by writing or any other way. If I can not communicate with others I would not be able to achieve success professionally. Although in other countries government or employer provide sign language interpreter or other accommodations, but I believe for success good grip on language especially in English language is a must.

KPDC: Thank you so much for being here and enlightening us with your thoughts. C U on Net.

MA: I also enjoyed being here. C U On Net 2.


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