Afia Kabir Anila :
We have also happiness and sorrows, have smile and grimace and also have power of understanding, but we express those differently.
From my childhood, I am very much familiar with the words of Cerebral Palsy (CP), Autism, ID, Down Syndrome etc. When people call me ‘CP-baby’, I feel very sad.
The people who call us like this, can’t they think that we have also our own names? Can’t think that we also have the same rights to live like other human being?
I am Afia Kabir Anila person with Cerebral Palsy (Neuro-Developmental disability). When I was born everyone became glad in my family because I was the only daughter of my parentsand loved by the extended family members of mine. At the age of 8 months I was diagnosed that I have cerebral palsy.
The entire world has fallen apart on my family, especially on my parents. Because, no parents in the world want to give birth a special child who has disability.
My parents have tried their level best to get my treatment. Due to my brain paralysis it’s not possible on my part to function like a neuro-typical person.
So, to get better guidance later my parents went to India and met a physiologist. He advised my parents never put me in special school and also advised to talk to me as much as possible to provide me every single message which is happening in my surroundings.
After coming back from India my parents started to feel it was the time for me to go to school and accordingly enrolled me in a special school.
There was a doctor in the special school who told my mother that “As she can’t do anything why did you enroll her in the school?”
Further, at my early age I went to an English Medium Schoo where I am lifted by my father in his lap because there was no access for me to go to the 1st floor of that 2 storied building. But, it was difficult for all members of the school to understand me.
Due to lack of understanding about disabilities the teachers got impatient and they didn’t provide me the time that I needed to speak.
I had a woman there who acted as my scribe but due to her inadequate experience and academic background it was difficult for her to understand my dictation.
As a result, I could not complete my exam within allocated time. Because of her academic background I had to spell out the words. Then in the middle of a sentence the teacher took the paper away shouting, “Everyone else can finish, why you can’t?”
In school every moment I fought against adverse situation. The students told me that “We cannot be your friend” or they ask me, why was I at their school as I ccould not walk? They addressed me using slang words. I became upset by their deeds.
However, I had to compromise with them, because nobody in that school was prepared to accept me as student.
Even then, I am still so much grateful to my Principal Madam, because she had given me the opportunity to continue schooling.
But I was very much annoyed with the school’s authority’s attitude as they were not willing to provide with much facilities and denied my rights to enroll to their school.
I was afraid that I didn’t have enough opportunity and facility to receive proper education in Bangladesh.
Because the educational institutions were not ready to accept persons like me or they didn’t have effective plan or interest to create disability friendly academic environment.
Even the government didn’t have any constructive policy and exercise of such policy for the education of people with disabilities.
In fact, currently the government has passed laws to protect interest of people with disabilities, but implementation of those laws is extremely poor.
It created frustration within me as I worried that may not turn my dream into reality. Even, during my O-Level and A-Level examination because of the attitudinal problems of some British Council officials, I faced tremendous problem with scribe as they provided me scribe from different discipline and she had not minimum orientation about the subject to follow my dictation. As a result my performance didn’t reflect my knowledge.
Confronting multifarious challenges, I have completed my graduation in Law from North South University, Bangladesh to give a positive shape of my dream.
Now I am planning to do my masters course in Environmental Law and hope that my presence in COP28 as Youth Deligate would further have significant contribution in my study, and also subsequently my professional life in the field of climate change issues.
My dream is to be a development worker and to establish rights of person with disabilities in Bangladesh and beyond providing legal support to them.
In Bangladesh, children with disability may even get beaten for playing with a normal child. In fact, I have been facing such situation since my early age. Because, people don’t accept us as part of the society, rather they think that we are burden for them.
But they don’t know that we have also potential. If we get proper scope, then we can also contribute substantially for the society.
I use to go to rural areas as volunteer of Tauri Foundation and talk with the parents about how their children having disabilities need to fight to be heard. I’ve been on many TV programs, where I spoke about issues related to rights of the children with disabilities. I have represented Bangladesh in the Global Children’s Panel with Save the Children UK, it was a big opportunity.
I am so proud that I became one of the Global Children Panel members of Save the Children, UK by following e-mail voting system.
Besides, I am actively participating in different programs and activities to establish rights of person with disabilities. For such involvence, Distressed Children Infants International, USA has given me Young leadership Award 2017.
Also I received an award in 2019 from the Prime Minister of Bangladesh as successful person with disabilities in Bangladesh. Also I worked in Gender Protection and Disability Inclusion Team of World Food Program (WFP), Bangladesh.
So, I firmly believe that sometimes persons with disabilities can do things that neuro-typical person can’t. Even some things we can do better.
In fine, I have a request to all the members of our society to create an inclusive environment to allow us to lead a dignified life. Because ‘life is celebration’.
(The writer is a volunteer of Tauri Foundation, motivational speaker, disability rights activist and a recipient of Successful Person with Disabilities in Bangladesh 2019 award).
