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By Amanda Quraishi
The biggest challenge that most disabled people have isn’t learning how to live and work with their disability in a world that privileges the abled. No, the biggest challenge is convincing others that they are just as capable of things as anyone else. Despite the leaps and bounds that the disabled community has made in the past century with legal protections, accessibility and visibility; there is still an unfair stigma that pervades and transcends cultures and societies.
No one knows this more than Mohammed Yousuf. He was born in India, the eldest of seven children. When he contracted polio at the age of 2 and lost his ability to walk, it was a painful blow to his parents. They spent years in denial of his condition, trying to find him a “cure” that would allow him to walk again and be “normal.” With limited resources and a culture that both feared and resented the disabled, Mohammed’s future prospects seemed dim. He did not even attend school up until the age of 12. But that’s when things changed for him.
Mohammed’s grandmother came to visit and took him to live with her in another city. She sent him to school for the first time and made sure he had the support he needed, physically and emotionally, to focus on his studies. Despite being initially weak and afraid, Mohammed persevered and became a degreed engineer.
But even after achieving an education, he struggled to find work in India for two years, and became depressed because of the repeated rejection which he knew was based entirely on his physical disability. Still, he kept looking for opportunities. That’s when he decided to immigrate to the United States.
During his successful career in the U.S., Mohammed received the encouragement and support of both his wife and his manager at work to get more involved with the American disability movement. In 2001, while working full time, he decided to start a small organization to help other disabled persons in India find opportunities.
His first goal was to raise $2,000 to help students in Hyderabad, India. It was during Ramadan when he had his first fundraiser and with he raised $6,000 in one night. He was overwhelmed and thrilled with the support from the Muslim community and began to devote even more time to his organization, EquallyAble.
EquallyAble has progressed from helping disabled individuals with education and medical needs to focusing on micro-enterprises that allow them to be self-sufficient and provide for themselves and their families.
“You have to prove yourself — especially in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh,” said Mohammed during a recent interview. “People who have disabilities in these areas aren’t able to go to school. There are many people in their 40’s and 50’s who simply don’t have a way to make a living. Some are even married with children and have whole families dependent on them. That means wives and children have to work, often for much less wages.”
Currently, EquallyAble is in the middle of it’s #GiveHope1000 campaign, which has a goal of creating 1000 small businesses in India, Pakistan & Bangladesh. The campaign has already helped establish 300 businesses (things like tea shops or vegetable stands), which are currently being run by eager entrepreneurs who have been waiting for the opportunity to support themselves.
There’s an old saying that if you give a man to fish, he can eat for one day; but if you teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for a lifetime. EquallyAble isn’t just providing charity for the day-to-day needs of those who are disabled. It’s giving them the tools they need to build a future for themselves, and to sustain their families for the rest of their lives.
Sometimes, the only thing a person needs is an opportunity. Can there be any greater gift than helping to provide multiple opportunities for people who truly need and want them?
Learn more about EquallyAble and how you can support the #GiveHope1000 campaign today. Amanda Quraishi is an American Muslim writer, speaker, interfaith activist and technology professional based in Austin, Texas.
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