Disabled and trapped by poverty

Abrahim 12, a physically disabled child, -- the only one in his family -- is daily seen crawling on Raja Bazaar roads. He goes there to earn bread and butter for his family. He moves to different areas of the locality hoping to get a few rupees from Pindiites. “I hardly get Rs300 after a day’s stay outside,” he says.

“I’m disabled by birth. My lower part from belly to the feet is paralysed while I have nobody to support my family. I live in Rahimabad in a rented house along with my mother and elder sister,” he says.

He can’t sit, walk and lie down properly. “I can’t even crawl without help. During the first few years of my life, my family didn't know what was wrong with me. It took until I was three years old for me to be diagnosed, and to start receiving support from a local hospital.”

“I was isolated stuck inside four walls. I had a rare degenerative disease, which affects the nervous system, causing a loss of movement in the legs. It makes me feel sad and left out. I can’t do what everyone else can do.”

“The house we live in costs Rs4000 per month in rent minus utility bills. Not to talk about the good daily meals. Our landlord is a sympathetic person so he cares a bit about us. My mother and I remain worried about the marriage of my sister. You can’t imagine the pain of those who don’t have money,” Ibrahim tells.

“Ibrahim was fine when he was born, in fact he was a chubby baby," his mother recalls. She says a few months later, he developed a high fever and had febrile fits. "One night, he shook violently. We took him to a hospital. Doctor lumber-puncture his backbone to get liquid for test," she says. "He was never the same again."

Ibrahim’s mother tears up when she talks about him. This scribe met her at the quarters of Ibrahim’s uncle in grimy corner of a small room, right behind the store. Desperately poor, this is where the whole family of three lives. They sleep here on tattered mattress spread on the ground; eat here whatever they can afford.

Many of disabled people, like Ibrahim, are allowed to quietly fade into the background in a populous city like Rawalpindi where the worth and survival of many depends on their ability to work. Is there anybody listening? Who is going to help out Ibrahim? Those who can afford to give their children the care they need, do so. Those who can't, end up like Ibrahim on the streets.