By Zuhra Shafiq | Director Planning and Evaluation
As a part time volunteer consultant, Parween Azimi, hopes to provide technical support as well as inspiration to the young disabled children and teens at the disabled school of Kabul. Parween is inspiring the kids to keep their hope for better future, through acquiring literacy and numeracy education at the school, and learning the communication language.
“It is very important to understand what they are saying as well as to make them understand what do we say”, says Parween. “good communication is key to success, and we teach these kids the sign language to enable to communicate.”
Parween Azimi worked with UNOPS, CDAP project (between 1998 to 2002), and one of her tasks was to establish a national (Afghan) sign language book, together within a team of three people: two expatriate and one afghan staff. Since then she was desperate to help deaf and blind children to escape isolation. Parween says “my mission of life is to help the disabled people in living a happy life”.
In collaboration of a team of Afghan disabled people Parween initiated classes and thought sign language to disabled as well as to ordinary volunteers, who then in turn were becoming the trainers of sing language. “I believe there is a social impact in the activity that I pursue. My students become activists for social and behavioral change. We work with the communities so that together we could bring positive and long lasting change into the lives of these disabled children.” adds Parween during our talk.
Despite her tight schedule of working with Navision Committee for Afghanistan, and pursuing her masters’ degree, Parween visits the school every two weeks and looks through the work, helps with teaching materials, helps in translation of sign language between the school manager, and external visitors.
Parween recently organized a football match in between the boys of the higher grades, which was warmly welcomed by all the students of the school. Since the Afghanistan championship in the southeast football cup, the football is recognized as one of the important options which can bring peace and at least temporary happiness to the lives of the war-devastated country.
Parween engages the school children in various opportunities which she finds interesting and supportive i.e. sports, activities with the ministry of martyrs, any training opportunities etc. She believes that more conversations happen and more possibilities are arranged for the deaf and blind children to visit various places, their enthusiasm towards learning grows, and it helps teenagers and the younger children in discovering their own ways of problem-solving, negotiation, and understanding the external world, outside the classroom.
One of the Action for Development (AfD)’s goals is to provide education to children, and empower them in their social lives. A great proportion of work is done by the volunteers, who share same understanding and same goals as the organization. Therefore, they commit to helping Afghan youth in improving their education and in various possible ways. AfD provides such a valuable youth experiences due to the support from individuals who also share our vision and believe in contributions to helping build empowered generations, despite their disabilities. We would like to thank you for your contributions.
By Zuhra Shafiq | Director Planning and Evaluation
By Zuhra Shafiq | Director Strategy and Planning
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