a dream come true

By Shazia hasan
Published in Dawn news paper in 12 March 2000
So my dream comes true

My PC is my sword to fight Against Blindness

As we know that life is a continuous trial andexamination for everyone, especially for handicappedpeople like me. I lost my sight when I was 8 years old. At that time, I thought that I have lost everything in life but it was only my thinking, which changed later. I am now 25 years old and my education and events since I lost my sight have transformed my thinking. It is true that blind people are very lucky because in the sense that they tend to compensate the loss of sight by developing other faculties and usually have a very sharp mind. In my past I thought that I could not, in formal writing, do any thing with out sighted help because I had faced many problems specially when I was a child. I had no problems making friends but was unhappy with my limitations. As a child I was very fond of painting and I wanted to become an engineer but the loss of sight handicapped me. Slowly but surely I learnt to live with my blindness and went to Idea Rieu School, a famous blind people's school in Karachi. I did my Matriculation reading books in Braille and making my own notes at home with help from my loving parents. During school days I made many friends and had great fun in picnics, assembly and other activities. After leaving school I was at a loss again because there werenot and still are not many job opportunities for a blind girl in Pakistan. I did many small courses from STPRC (Special Teachers and Parents Resource Centre) and engaged myself in voluntary teaching at Shaheed-e-Millat school. Even though I enjoyed teaching but I wanted to learn further andexplore other avenues in life. Then, last year, as the new millenium approached, the real transformation in my life began to happen. I had learned about the blind using computers in Europe and USA but it was such facilities were not available in Pakistan. Obviously, it would have been very costly and inconvenient to go abroad. In 1999, however, computer training for the blind was offered for the first time in Pakistan by AK Centre by a qualified, Computer trainer from RNIB (the Royal National Institute for Blinds (U.K.) The AK Centre is located in Karachi near Bahadurabad. The telephone number is 4937525 for those like me who wish to take advantage of this great opportunity.

Naturally I was the first student to enroll. I have since learned Windows, Microsoft Word, E-mail package (Outlook Express) etc. with the help of Jaws. Jaws is the name of a software which runs in the background and reads the screen and cursor position. A blind person can use the computer by using keyboard with help of Jaws. It reads all for a blind person. So a blind person can work and become an active part of society. It is a really nice change for my life. Now my life is so changed because I feel independent. Day by day I am getting more knowledge by using Internet because knowledge, that I gain, is power and wealth. My Jaws is my helper and educator. It guides me in many different fields. I am now a competent user of a PC making full use of E-mail & Microsoft Word. I now E-mail to my friends and family abroad and in other cities in Pakistan.
The following article appeared in the daily DAWN Karachi of 12th March 2000, on page 2 of the Magazine section under the title PEOPLE'S POWER.
The article is reproduced below:
MY FIGHT AGAINST BLINDNESS
Life is a continuous trial and examination for everyone, especially for handicapped people like me. I lost my sight when I was eight years old. At that time, I thought I had lost everything in life but it was only my thinking, which changed later. I am now 25 and my education and experience has changed my thinking.
It is true that blind people are very lucky they can compensate for the loss of sight by developing other faculties and usually have very sharp minds.
In the past, I used to think that I could not do anything without sighted help because I had faced many problems, especially when I was a child. I had no problems making friends but was unhappy with my limitations. As a child I was very fond of painting and wanted to become an engineer,
Slowly but sure, I learnt to live with my blindness an d went to Ida Rieu School, a famous ;blind people's school in Karachi. I did my Matriculation reading books in Braille and making my own notes at home with the help from my loving parents. During school days I made many friends and had great fun at picnics, assembly and other activities.
After leaving school I was at a loss again because there are not many job opportunities for a blind girl in Pakistan. I did many short courses from STPRC (Special Teachers and Parents Resource Centre) and engaged myself in voluntary teaching at Shaheed-e-Millat School. Even though I enjoyed teaching, I wanted to study further and explore other avenues in life.
Then, last year, as the new millennium approached, the real transformation in my life began to happen. I had learned about the blind using computers in Europe and USA but such facilities were not available in Pakistan. Obviously, it was very costly and inconvenient to go abroad.
In 1999, however, computer training for the blind was offered for the first time in Pakistan by A.K.Centre by a qualified computer trainer from RNIB (the Royal National Institute for Blinds - UK). The AK Centre is located in Karachi near Bahadurabad. The telephone number is 4937525 for those like me who wish to take advantage of this great opportunity.
Naturally, I was the first student to enroll. I have since learnt Windows, Microsoft Words, e-mail package (Outlook Express) etc. with the help of Jaws. Jaws is the name of a software which runs in the background and reads the screen and cursor position. A blind person can use the computer by using keyboard with the help of Jaws. It reads everything for a blind person. So a blind person can work and become an active part of society.
It is a really a nice change in my life. I feel independent. Every day I am getting more knowledge by using ;the Internet. My Jaws is my helper and educator. It guides me in many different fields. I am now a competent user of a PC making full use of e-mail and Microsoft Word. I now e-mail to my friend and family abroad and in other cities of Pakistan. This keeps me busy and happy. I wish
After the passage of time my life is totally changed. I started teaching computer at Ida Rieu school/degree college. It is a unique experience for me. I found many cyber friends. Mydream to to become a writer some day is also came true. By Shazia Hasan
Still I wish to restore my site again and see all the beauty of this world.