Helping the deprived during Eid – is that it? Full stop?
In the name of Allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. I wish everyone a happy Eid (wherever there are) and wish you and your family a blessed holiday (for those celebrating it in Pakistan). I will not take up much of your time, as many want to head out rather than read a long article. However, I digress and take up some of your time.
Like other festive periods such as Christmas or the New Year, Eid is a time of individual reflection. For example, am I heading in the right way? What changes do I need to make to ensure I reach my goals? For an organization, it is different: partly as it is a cause and partly due to one’s own experience. In my personal view, I think my trip to Gilgit was needed for the organization, and somewhat it helped me communicate and express myself but more importantly, it helped me realize what I was missing. For instance, you can see that my previous articles predating May 2023 were not as concise or were waffly, but now I think it is more straightforward. Speaking of Personal Awareness, one has to also reflect on organizational awareness.
As far as meeting the team and my very hard-working students, I think there is a need for better organizational awareness schemes which the government can introduce. When outlining my vision at Karakoram International University, for a split second or a minute or two, I was reminded of all the things I have experienced in the UK ( where I currently reside) and being in Pakistan that all humans are humans on this earth. It does not matter which color or race you are. So while I was stepping up to the podium to give my speech, I was thinking of Gilgit Baltistan (GB) in many ways easily: 1 – implement the 3% quota that was promised in the Gilgit Baltistan Disability Act 2019 and 2 – Intergate the PWD community in society.
I know that the second task is said easier than done, as in developed countries this is not even the case: however, we need to realize that this is the way forward for all PWDs, whether one lives in Gilgit, Ishokmen, Hunza, Nagar, Gupis or Yasin. Until one does not integrate PWDs, there will be an injustice as seen in the recent budget (https://gbgoodwillmovement.com/the-recent-passage-of-the-budget-by-the-gilgit-baltistans-government).
- So what are the solutions that we propose?
- Run more awareness programmes with the youth to focus on social inclusion
- Develop more skills development-based learning programmes so that Adult PWDs have the trait or skill to become more employable.
- Focus on their abilities rather than disablities.
The issues can be solved by these three initiatives, but the government is not willing to support any of these initiatives for the long term!
This Eid we require your support and donations more than ever to expand and sustain our projects.
Growth and stability for Persons with Disabilities
The economic budget which has been presented poses challenges and threats for the PWD community in Gilgit Baltistan, no doubt about that. However, as I said in my earlier article, this will keep happening until the culture does not change, which will take time. So it is not a surprise – as the apple does not fall far from the tree. I do not want to use the premise that disabled people are excluded occasionally because I think a reader will get bored with it, or some will think it is ‘ clickbait,’ which is not our purpose or intention. It is the truth.
Nevertheless, as a well-wisher of the government, I would recommend that they can introduce a mechanism under which DPOs are allowed to collect funds from different sources without having financial difficulties; I think this would be the best way to move forward for the community, of course, provided that DPOs are accountable. That is an issue for Local NGOs, as many banks are hesitant to open a national bank account. This is the policy of local international NGOs such as the Glasgow Disability Alliance (https://gda.scot/about-gda/funders/)
The second piece of advice I have for the government is to implement the 3% quota immediately. The 3% quota for Persons with Disablities is not a hefty task; the documents are there. It is up to the government to implement this as soon as possible. Being in Pakistan, I understand there might be certain illusions, such as ‘Are they like us? I wonder if they have emotions. ‘ If this is the root cause, then along with skills development, we will offer advocacy support free of cost to the government for employees and employers.
The final piece of advice that I would have for the government is that the government should invest in human capital. If the government can invest with us in pulling human resources and mobilizing communities about disability inclusion, then nothing is impossible. Of course, this is the most critical factor we need to work on. Like I say to my team until we do not join hands, we can not have an inclusive Gilgit Baltistan.
Government and society – Changing the culture towards persons with disabilities and outlining the future model.
Disabled people are just as human as abled people, but the way that disabled people are treated is dependent upon one’s culture. As explored in the past, we have discussed transportation needs and accommodation, which I hope to do in the future, but we have not discussed the cultural aspect. The cultural part is not simply equal to = ‘ abled people do not want to help disabled people’; it is multiple factors.
First, we should understand that not all government officials and people are arrogant about this issue, but the culture needs to be changed about PWDs. If one was to blame the government for everything concerning Persons with Disablities, sorry, I can not buy that. The reason is that elected persons are only there for five years, while the unelected have not done enough to raise disability awareness. When I use the ‘ unelected,’ I mean people aware of foreign education systems, institutes, etc.
The unelected know how other disabled people live in other societies, etc., but their time is not diverted to this cause in Gilgit Baltistan for different reasons. For their benefit, let us say that even if they wanted to, such a cause would require grassroots leaders (which GBGM proudly has) and an influx of funds (which is a dire need for NGOs such as GBGM).
Most of the time, we see in NGO work that a long-term plan is affected by multiple short-term barriers. For argument’s sake, let us say that the government of Gilgit Baltistan passes a bill tomorrow something stating that from this day onwards PWDs should get jobs; it is the attitudes of the employers ultimately which determine whether someone is employed or not.
That is why GBGM requires sustainability of funds in order to keep the momentum going. While at the same time as lobbying for government jobs, GBGM can also introduce freelancing classes for disabled people so that they can earn some money online while being inclusive as our website has been designed by our cabinet member, Ali Ahmad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrqlpY6nl-k&t=214s.
Difficulties in Liaising for Special Persons.
We encounter many problems and issues when liaising with/for disabled persons in Pakistan. Do not get me wrong; I know what the difficulties or issues faced by Persons with Disabilities in the West, especially in the UK (a ‘ welfare state’) but under this Conservative government, it almost feels like everything is collapsing in the social care sector.
Nevertheless in Pakistan and Gilgit Baltistan, the main thing is that there is no awareness around Persons with Disabilities. What exactly is meant by awareness? This term provides vagueness. When people say there is no awareness or a lack of awareness around PWDs, it always poses a riddle to some people when it should not. In this context, I think understanding means that people are not fully accepting of what disabled people face. We need to move from a medical/scientific phenomenon to a more egalitarian way of defining what a disability is. For example, think of smokers; some people are not, and some people are. Similarly, some people are disabled; some people are not.
I think the way to achieve this ideal state (even though you can not get 100% ideal anywhere, not even in the UK or the US) is to introduce disability-related inclusion classes in Gilgit Baltistan for all ages, irrespective of gender. To put it in another way, I think the main problem around GB with the government and society is that they procrastinate on this topic as there is no one apart from the disabled population expressing their concerns over the rights of PWDs.
However, with time, I think that civil society should have a responsibility to protect and guarantee the rights of PWDs, but we are not there yet. I would even extend the definition of civil society not to the national or regional but to the international society. It is widely acknowledged that this matter is of great concern, yet it seems to be overlooked and not given the attention it deserves and not given the attention it deserves.
How long can one blame officials if society does not stand up for the rights of persons with disabilities? We need to change this.
Accessibility And Disability Awareness – Updated Article
Farhan published an article on what measures are taken for PWDs by the Government earlier on, https://gbgoodwillmovement.com/what-measures-are-taken-by-the-government-of-gilgit-baltistan-for-its-persons-with-disablities/. Now being in Gilgit; I want to further update this with a focus on accessibility and disability awareness in relation to the city but what we are doing.
As you may know, Gilgit has a very unpredictable terrain with summer being the ideal travel season, though for PWDs, it is not. When we visited for official work at ZS Plaza, Gilgit, there were no lifts or ramps in the Plaza. For those who aren’t aware of Gilgit, ZS Plaza is situated near Heli Chowk which is the main hub of Gilgit. Liaising with different people and organizations there, I found that there is not a proper accessibility planning system until recently.
At the training center of GBGM, despite the terrain being inaccessible keep two wheelchairs at our parking bay which either a student or one of our cabinet members pushes. This is what we mean by transportation difficulties as there are no proper means of transport than personal transport which most disabled people do not have access to, and so we are also looking for some help in this regard.
Many disabled people want to come to us but are limited because of transport issues.
Young Leaders in Persons with Disablities in Gilgit Baltistan
I had subconscious foreign biases while crossing Dassu and going to Chilas. These biases include to what extent Persons With Disablities were independent enough from their families to struggle for PWDs. I predicted 20 to 25% percent – I was wrong; more than 100% of them were separated in their circles. Now what do I mean by independent – I mean the ability to express themselves and coherently structure their viewpoints.
I was pleased to see how people at Goodwill development center could speak for their rights (see video below). Based on this, I outline some routine exercises below that the team at Goodwill Center does, which raises other important questions.
Every morning at 10 am, the team starts their routine exercises. Farhan teaches students four basic computer Skills with Hakim Bhai at the LED Bulb Station. Next, the team sits down to reflect upon students’ mistakes and catch up with them about their problems. This usually happens late afternoon after 1 pm. The team with Farhan then catches up with any other external work that must be done away from the office.
So this raises questions one for us and one for the government or the powers.
- How long are we going to keep silent and pretend that there is no work being done on the ground?
- Are we going to other them for the rest of our life?
These questions might be met with no response, but we will keep doing our work. No matter what. Goodwill will always promote grassroots leadership from the ground. These young leaders want nothing else than to live in an inclusive society. I see it as a wasted opportunity if we do not give them time to flourish.