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11 June 2024 - Story

Special education class transforming the lives of visually impaired children

Negeena* (15) is an ambitious, intelligent, and persevering girl. She was born with an eyesight disability. She lives with her family of 18, including her brother, Ali*, who has the same disability as her. Her unwavering passion for school made her attend public school with her cousins since first grade. Learning has never been easy for Negeena* with other students in a public school. Despite her high spirit and ambition to learn, she usually faced improper comments about her disability studying by her peers and teachers.

"Life was meaningless and indifferent before this class. I did not care how time passed," Negeena* said.

Days could hardly become nights for her when passing through these all-bad experiences. She stressed herself to the point that she got sick for days. When she heard about establishing a special class for disabled children, she was pleased and could feel what life is for the first time. However, her family, particularly her brother Ali*, did not agree that Negeena* joined the class.

"My teacher’s encouragement to study and progress and hope to help others by becoming a teacher someday in the future make me come to class every day. I could hardly make days to the nights and could never imagine having the wish to become a teacher, even a student in a class like this," Negeena* shared.

After several visits by Save the Children staff and the village leader, Nageena's* brother finally agreed to her joining the special class. Ali* feels very happy about sending Negeena* to this class, as she can read and write well. She is usually advised not to be absent and to study hard.

"My wish for myself and my classmates is that we all could continue studying and become an important person in the community in the future. I wish to complete my studies and go to university. I wish Allah would give you [Save the Children] the power and resources to help us continue to study and make our hopes come true," Negeena* expressed.

Attending this class was a turning point in Negeena’s* life. Now, she is more hopeful about her life and looking forward to making big wishes ahead. She could not go anywhere without assistance, but now she has learnt how to find her way and do most of her duties alone. She wishes that Save the Children could help her continue her studies and become a teacher.

Save the Children gives Negeena* and her classmates a new life by establishing this class. Negeena* was referred to the doctor by Save the Children for her eye treatment. However, doctors told her that her eyes could not be treated in Afghanistan and that she needed to travel to India or Germany for treatment. She wants Save the Children to assist her by treating her eyes in one of these countries so she can live an everyday life.