Syeda Najma Shakur in association with the Women Welfare Organization (WWO) carried out her Annual Small Grant (ASG) project titled ‘Heal Up’, a project aimed at harnessing energies and overcoming the pain associated with disabled individuals. The goal of this project was to equip women with disabilities and mothers of children with disabilities, for them to manage their lives with positivity and more efficiency. The workshop aimed at helping attendees manage their anxiety and stress in the daily struggles of disabilities through stress-relief exercises and psycho-social support.
The Heal Up project was a four-day workshop conducted in Muzaffarabad where 150 participants who are facing the challenges of disabilities, either as mothers of children with disabilities (CWD), as wives of Persons with Disabilities (PWD) or themselves as Women with Disabilities (WWD). Pakistan unfortunately, has largely failed to accommodate the needs of PWDs. The facilities available to individuals are limited, contributing to their lack of social economic and political participation. Evidently, this leads to increased levels of anxiety and stress, especially among women.
The project successfully facilitated 180 attendees through a detailed series of seminar and training’s, by a team of certified professional experts. During these sessions, ancient Reiki healing, yoga, and different breathing and muscle relaxant techniques were performed, all of which are internationally recognized effective tools to strengthen the mind to tackle difficult situations. Customized sessions were also developed along with practical training’s based on different disabilities, where alumni activist for disabilities and member of the Pakistan U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) AJK Chapter Ms. Nasreen Aziz was appreciated for her efforts as the topmost potential beneficiaries, followed by Ms. Sufia and Mr. Basit for their contributions. Counselling and practical training was delivered to motivate these special individuals, by teaching them to embrace their disability and overcome each obstacle, by presenting real life examples of PWDs and how they used their weakness as their strength to excel in life.
Saima Bibi, a participant from the workshop says:
“I was suffering from dizziness and headache for the past two months and after the breathing exercises conducted during this seminar, my headache disappeared which was with me even after taking lot of medication.”
According to Najma, women are a vulnerable segment of our society. These vulnerabilities are further increased because of disabilities or having a family member with disability. She says:
“During my work, I realized that the situation of families with disabilities is not different in Muzaffarabad, as compared to other remote areas of the country. Mountainous topography and lack of accessibility and other facilities adds the worries of these women and their families. Neither they get any counseling and support from state or government to face this challenge of disability, nor do they get much support from society.”
Women with disabilities and their families, community stakeholders, youth volunteers, university students and other females from different professions participated in the seminar. Mrs. Jamshed Naqvi President PAUN AJK Chapter, Dr. Anam Anjum a wheelchair user psychiatrist, Maria Iqbal Tarana a renowned politician and alumni members shared their views about the seminar and expressed their well wishes for further activities of the project.
Eimen from Muzaffarabad remarked,
“I am serving working as a teacher in Smart School and I am amazed to see the effects of the 5-minutes sound therapy during the health seminar. It’s just like magic, which gives me a sense of calmness and relaxation from head to toe.”
