A Lady's courage

Disability couldn’t deter Zara from doing PhD!

Physical disability can be sidelined provided one has the will and determination. A brilliant example of this is the life and academic achievements of a deaf girl from Lahore who is doing PhD in special education from Johns Hopkins, a prestigious university in the USA.

In her message from USA, she said that she was thankful to God and everyone in her family, friends, professors and those who have been in her life for support and made things easier to her to excel in her studies. According to the data provided to this correspondent from her near and dear ones, Zara Hussain, a deaf but outstanding student, daughter of Iftikhar Hussain and Salma was born in Lahore in 1981.

When she was about a year old, her parents had discovered that she was deaf. It was not easy for them to accept this bitter reality, especially when Zara was their first child. They consulted many physicians to get her cured but to no avail. She was admitted to a school for primary education where she was only deaf child in her class and it was difficult for the teachers to treat her normally as they used to do so with other child students.

Zara did her high schooling from W.T. Woodson School (USA) where her father was posted in the Pakistani mission. She passed her high school with high grades and won ‘Role Model Award for American Deaf Children.’ She also learned CUED Speech, a system of communication used with and among deaf or hard of hearing people. She was also editor of the children magazine in her school at Virginia. She also wrote a guide for the deaf children studying at the American schools that was highly appreciated by the teachers and is now being used as a ‘Handbook for Deaf Children.’

When her family moved back to Pakistan, she got admission in Kinnaird College, Lahore, where she graduated with her major subjects including English Literature, Journalism and Psychology. After completing her bachelors, she got admission in the Punjab University and chose special education as her subject for masters. She topped all the four semesters and in recognition of her achievements former Punjab chief Minister Ch. Pervaiz Elahi awarded her a gold medal and cash prize worth Rs100,000.

Zara also represented Pakistan in ‘Annual Disability Conference 2004’ held in Washington DC. Despite resistance from the organizers, she displayed a stall through personal efforts, using only the ‘Punjab University, Pakistan’ as a label.

Though her mother wanted her to go for Information Technology or Computer Sciences but she got an HEC scholarship and went to the United States for doing her PhD in special education.

Her hobbies include socializing, especially with those people who work for the cause of special persons. Much of her time is utilized sitting on the computer and browsing the Internet and writing proposals for well-being of the deaf community.

She has a plan to set up an institute for the deaf community after completion of her PhD, initially in Islamabad and Lahore and then to spread its branches across the country with the aim to provide level playing field to help them shine in their areas of study and contribute effectively in the national development.

The academic achievements of this brave and talented young student needs attention of the government that must acknowledge and encourage such youths that can become a role model for many others in the society.


Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=223215