“I hope someday our society realizes that a disabled child isn’t a curse, that it is possible for that child to one day make its parents proud.”
Mubeen is the youngest among the three children of Mr. & Mrs. Khasin Vali. She is also the only daughter. Life has never been easy for her and, as a child, her condition was so severe that it’d be a difficult task to even sit up. However neither she nor her parents let that come in their way. When she was born, the villagers advised her parents to have the deformed baby killed. However, as Mubeen quotes him, her father would “rather have a handicapped child than a dead one.” Her mother was so scared that someone would kill her that she spent two sleepless nights post her birth just to safeguard her.
Irrespective of her condition, Mubeen showed great enthusiasm toward education. She smiles faintly at the memory of how her mother used to carry her to the school every single day. In spite of being a simple farmer, her father went beyond his financial capabilities to arrange two major surgeries for her, one at the age of 4 and other at the age of 8. After the last operation at Tirupathi, Mubeen was able to walk by herself.
The struggle for education was tough but tougher than that was the pressing need she felt to support her family. After her initial education, she learned about Youth4Jobs and their job linked skill development centers. She joined up for the training and soon became part of Batch 33 at the Tirupati Center. Her 2 month training at Youth4Jobs, in her own words, was life changing. The Youth4Jobs curriculum consisted of English, Computers, Retail and Soft Skills. It gave her the self-confidence necessary to go out into the world, persevere, and succeed against all odds by helping her land her first job. However, it was her self-confidence which would eventually help her navigate the challenges that lay ahead.
After the course, Mubeen was placed in a billing desk job, but her struggles didn’t end there. An obnoxious manager forced her to consider moving out of her job. It was a new experience and she required a solid support system and it was at this time that Youth4Jobs stepped in to support her. Youth4Jobs instilled in Mubeen the confidence to look for a better job. After some more struggle where she often worked for 15–20 days without pay, she finally got a job in her current workplace. She currently works 90 hours overtime to save Rs. 10,000 to send back to her parents.
Upon being asked where she sees herself a few years from now, Mubeen passionately speaks about how she wants to help people like her, especially women. She aims to become a Math Professor and donate 10% of her monthly salary to help young girls with disability.
Y4J has not only inspired her to attain stability in her life but also given her the confidence to help many others as well. It is this farsighted vision that will help build a better society.
With a confident smile on her face, this is what Mubeen has to say today: “I am a girl, and I’m disabled. Those villagers who wanted me killed now cite me as example to their sons who are wandering aimlessly on the same streets where I fell a million times. I wouldn’t be here today if not for Youth4Jobs and no amount of words can ever be enough to show my gratitude.
There are many more Mubeens out there who need the support of Youth4Jobs. You can help empower them by supporting their training. Contribute to the Youth4Jobs campaign here.