[nfbmi-talk] FW: [stylist] Life as Blind Journalist in Afghanistan

Sun Aug 29 17:36:15 UTC 2010

Thanks for sharing this, Fred.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Wurtzel" <f.wurtzel at comcast.net>
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2010 7:06 AM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] FW: [stylist] Life as Blind Journalist in Afghanistan


> Hello List,
>
> awesome Article
> As a people's movement, the NFB's response to blindness is universal.  I
> suspect that this journalist has never heard of the NFB, or at least had 
> not
> heard of it when he decided not to let blindness prevent him from 
> excelling
> in his chosen profession.  Given the daily news and our, possibly
> misinformed, understanding of social conditions in Afghanistan, imagine 
> the
> internal fortitude of this person.  I can personally relate to the anger
> generated by the negative comments of ignorant uninformed people about our
> abilities as blind people.  He, and hopefully I, have learned to use this
> anger in a positive way to create change and make a positive difference.
>
> Warmest Regards,
>
> Fred
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Donna Hill
> Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2010 1:06 PM
> To: nfbp-talk at yahoogroups.com; Performing Arts Division list; Writer's
> Division Mailing List
> Subject: [stylist] Life as Blind Journalist in Afghanistan
>
> Hi Friends,
> I just found this story about a blind journalist, and I am copying it
> below along with the original link.
> Enjoy,
> Donna
>
> Life as Blind Journalist in Afghanistan
> http://iwpr.net/report-news/life-blind-journalist-afghanistan
> Successful news editor and presenter overcame disability, prejudice and
> low expectations.
> By
> Abdul Latif Sahak
> -
> Afghanistan
> ARR Issue 366,
> 1 Jul 10
> list of 1 items
>
> Sayed Mohammad Yazdan Parast is a successful presenter and news editor
> with Radio Nehad, Mazar-e Sharif.
> list end
>
> Thirteen-year-old Sayed Mohammad Yazdan Parast was sitting in his usual
> seat in the back row of the classroom, watching his teacher draw a
> geometrical circle
> on the blackboard. All of a sudden, the central dot of the circle
> disappeared. He thought that perhaps there was something wrong with the
> chalk.
>
> The next day, the Afghan schoolboy sat one row closer to the blackboard.
> Over the next eight days he gradually moved forward row by row, until he
> was sitting
> right at the front. But by this time he could no longer see the
> blackboard, let alone anything drawn on it.
>
> "I finally realised that it wasn't the blackboard or the chalk that had
> lost their clarity; it was my eyes that had lost their vision," he told
> IWPR.
>
> Despite three trips to Iran to seek medical help, the young boy became
> completely blind.
>
> "The worst memory of my life is the day I heard the doctor telling my
> father that my vision could not be restored," he recalled.
>
> But ten years on, Yazdan Parast has overcome blindness to become a 
> success.
>
> A well-known journalist in a country where there is little provision for
> the disabled, he now heads the news section of Radio Nehad in the
> northern city
> of Mazar-e Sharif.
>
> He reads the news by heart and presents a number of shows. He also
> represents the journalists of northern Afghanistan at national
> conferences, and participated
> in the peace "jirga" or assembly last month as a representative of
> disabled people.
>
> "If I appointed a sighted person instead of Yazdan Parast as head of
> news at Radio Nehad, I would not feel so at ease," said Najibollah
> Paikan, editor-in-chief
> and owner of Radio Nehad. "I feel calm now because Yazdan Parast is here."
>
> Paikan added that not only was Yazdan Parast a good journalist,
> presenter and manager, he was also exceptionally well-informed about
> politics and history.
>
> Yazdan Parast's career chances were turned around in 1999, when he heard
> on the radio that the International Organisation for Migration was
> assisting blind
> people in Mazar-e Sharif.
>
> "I paid my first visit and started learning Braille script. Finding the
> institution was the start of the solution to the problems in my life,"
> he said.
>
> After four months studying Braille, he went back to school, and is still
> studying there part-time. Once he graduates, he wants to go on to study 
> law.
>
> Yazdan Parast still faces a daily struggle against prejudice among the
> general public. He says people call him names when he walks around the 
> city.
>
> "I ask those who say people like me are blind to cover their eyes one
> day and then walk through the city. Then they will realise what this is
> about," he
> said.
>
> The abusive treatment he received was one of his main motivations for
> becoming a journalist.
>
> "I wanted to bring my voice, which only my family had heard so far, to
> the government, the people and society to make them aware of the pain
> that disabled
> people feel," he said.
>
> When it comes to looking for a wife, Yazdan Parast accepts that his
> choice cannot be based on looks.
>
> "I cannot see beauties anymore. The only thing I want is for my wife to
> understand me, to be literate and to have good morals," he said.
>
> His father Sayed Mahmud Shah, a pharmacist at a Mazar-e Sharif hospital,
> said that when his son lost his sight, he feared he faced a bleak future
> like other
> blind people in Afghanistan.
>
> "I thought my son would be a burden on his family, but today, the family
> is a burden for him, because he helps me with the household expenses,"
> he said.
> "He's the pride of our family and our relatives. I never think of my son
> as di
>
> -- 
> Read Donna's articles on
> Suite 101:
> www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
> Ezine Articles:
> http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=D._W._Hill
> American Chronicle:
> www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>
> Connect with Donna on
> Twitter:
> www.twitter.com/dewhill
> LinkedIn:
> www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
> FaceBook:
> www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>
> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
> cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
> Apple I-Tunes
> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>
> Check out the "Sound in Sight" CD project
> Donna is Head of Media Relations for the nonprofit
> Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind:
> www.padnfb.org
>
>
>
>
>
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