Story Afia Akter

I’m Afia Akter. I’m 12 years old and have a physical disability. When as a toddler, I didn’t learn to walk, my parents started to worry.

I spent 6 months in a rehabilitation center in Savar, but when my parents heard that I needed therapy for years to come, we went back to our village. My mother had a hard time there. She was blamed for my disability and was ostracized by everyone. That changed when we got to know Niketan. Together we went to the veranda school in Mandarota. My mother attended all the training courses offered there and became a multifunctional volunteer at the Charmastul veranda school. Together with another volunteer, she now runs a veranda school and I am very proud of that.

I learned to walk well and am now in grade 6. Through the ‘sex education’ training and the ‘money management’ training, I met many girls who, like me, have disabilities. That helped me to accept my disability. I have made many friends there and we call each other when we are having a hard time or when we are secretly in love with a boy, for example.

I help my parents with the housework. I still regularly go to the veranda school for my therapy and help the young children there.

Niketan has really changed my life.

Also read the story of Afia’s friend Mila