![\"Image](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/27\/2016\/04\/project-2861-body-equallable_stats.jpg\")
<\/a>By Amanda Quraishi<\/strong><\/p>\n The biggest challenge that most disabled people have isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u201ccure\u201d that would allow him to walk again and be \u201cnormal.\u201d With limited resources and a culture that both feared and resented the disabled, Mohammed\u2019s future prospects seemed dim. He did not even attend school up until the age of 12. But that\u2019s when things changed for him.<\/p>\n Mohammed\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s when he decided to immigrate to the United States.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to prove yourself \u2014 especially in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh,\u201d said Mohammed during a recent interview. \u201cPeople who have disabilities in these areas aren\u2019t able to go to school. There are many people in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s who simply don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, EquallyAble is in the middle of it\u2019s #GiveHope1000<\/span><\/a> 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.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>