“I am the only visually impaired girl from Gilgit-Baltistan who got admission and is studying a masters degree at Karachi University.

We are five siblings; four sisters and a brother and except my youngest sister, the rest of us are visually impaired from birth. However, with the grace of Allah Almighty, all of us are studying at different education institutions of the country. My brother is studying at Al-Makhoom Special Education Centre, Islamabad, and my sisters are in Ida Rieu School for Deaf and Blind, Karachi. 

When I was a kid, my dad had a job in Karachi and my mom was a housewife. At that time a school had been opened at Nasir Abad for differently-abled children. My parents decided to admit me into that school and I started going to school, but the school was not a success and closed after some time of its creation. Therefore, I was compelled to stay at home, but I was very desperate to go to school.

One day some people from the “Gilgit Education and Rehabilitation Centre(GERC)” came to our village for a survey and they made my dad understand that he should send [Out of the village] his daughters to get educated. At first he was reluctant to send us away from home, but soon he agreed as they assured him of our safety and got us admitted into GERC, Gilgit while he himself was in Karachi for his job.” 

(Samina D/O Shah Gharib, Nasirabad Hunza)