‘Disability is not a curse, it’s a god gift for special person!’ is the driving force behind Mohammad Faisal Nawaz’s inspiring story. Born with polio and life-threatening disease Scoliosis (a severe curvature of the spine), he never let his illness hamper his vision to achieve his dreams or help others to spread their wings.
Today his project ‘Light for Life’ under the banner of Foundation for Indian Integration and Rights (FIIR), encourages numerous Muslims to step outside their household and make a name for themselves.
“In my growing years, I witnessed discrimination on the basis of my disability and religion. I was rejected admission in some of the government schools in the city just because I was Muslim,” shares Faisal and adds, “I understand the feeling of rejection and from an early age I started voicing my opinion about disability and gender equality. But because of my illness I was never actively involved. In 2011, my life changed overnight and I was totally bedridden because of my illness. The chances of my survival were very less. At that time, I pledged to myself that if I survived, I’d dedicate a part of my life to help the needy and improve the society in whatever capacity I can.”
A central government employee, Faisal talks about his journey toward women empowerment. “It was a visit from a neighbour’s daughter that made me realise that gender inequalities are still prevalent in my community. How a girl’s education is stopped midway because of the conservative nature of the family,” points out Faisal.
That is when the realisation stuck him that to bring change in the society he needs to improve the condition of women in his community first. He says, “Our area is conservative, with girls barely getting a chance to pursue higher studies. I also saw the gender inequalities and difficulties women in our community face everyday.”
Through his project ‘Light for Life’, Faisal and his team provide education, employment and skill development training to young girls. “The aim is to work towards bringing an all-round development of Muslim girls in the area to help them break stereotypes and gain education to find employment,” he shares.
Going forward he wants to inculcate leadership qualities in them and provide them a platform to voice their opinions. “We set up an Islamic/Urdu unit first, through which families of these girls easily agreed to join our centre. We followed this with skill development classes like stitching, computer education, beautician course, etc to help them take the first step towards self employment. Along with this, we also started non-formal education, through remedial classes unit, so that students attending schools understand their subjects better,” he shares.
Currently, the centre has about 100 regular students between the age of seven to 30. Nawaz aims to bridge the gap between religion and modernity. He says, “To promote equality, the centre conducts Istimas, a religious gathering of females, where they focus on female rights and gender issues. We also talk to the families about the importance of gender equality. I want more Changeloomer like me from our community, who want to make a difference.”
Faisal does realise that it is just the beginning and hopes that his initiative will have a positive impact on society. He concludes, “I want to continue my work with upgrading the techniques and technology in the training methods and increase the reach of my centre to maximum number of students.”
