Hina and Imran: A world opens at Carroll College
but their career options were limited in Pakistan. They grew up in Sindh Province and spoke both Urdu and Punjabi. They also learned English via tapes
and learned to read Braille as children. They can read Braille in Urdu and English but use adaptive technology to utilize their computers. Hina majored in
English Literature and eventually went into Mass Communication. Her career path would probably have led to her becoming a teacher or perhaps a news
reporter, but employment of people with disabilities in Pakistan is not widely accepted. Imran wanted to study law but was steered away from this so he
studied Mass Communication also and thought he’d like to become a radio producer or write articles for news outlets.
Their family in Pakistan is considered middle class. Their father runs an auto parts business and their mother runs the household. The family moved from
the small village where they were born to Rawalpindi and eventually to Lahore so the children would have access to the best possible educational
opportunities. They have a younger brother and sister back home who are normally sighted. They are able to keep in touch with the family via email and
Skype calls on their computers.
During their schooling in Pakistan, they faced problems with taking exams because the only option available to blind students was to hire a younger
student to read the questions to them and then they dictated answers to the reader. This was inconvenient, as it prevented the opportunity to go back and
review their answers and had no way of knowing if the younger student was actually writing the correct answers or misspelling words. Imran and Hina were
proud of the fact that they were able to convince the Federal Education Board in Pakistan to provide exams in Braille for blind students. Imran mentioned
that there currently are no library resources in Pakistan for people with visual impairment, something he hopes he can help remedy.
They were studying at the University of Lahore when they began a correspondence with a blind American, Gerald Clark, of Port Huron, Mich. They met
via a magazine named Matilda Ziegler, a publication for the visually impaired. Again, I learned something I’d never known. This magazine has been
around since 1907 and benefited Helen Keller at one point. Matilda Ziegler, the wife of a scientific researcher and the mother of a blind son, offered to
underwrite the cost of the publication and her endowment continues to support its printing and online presence. Mr. Clark is older but enjoyed exchanging
tapes with Imran and Hina as it gave him a window to a world he could only experience through the tapes they sent to each other. Mr. Clark had some heart
problems and visited a cardiologist in Michigan, Dr. Sohail Akthar Hasan. He told Dr. Hasan of his friends in Pakistan and discovered that Dr. Hasan was also
Pakistani. While skeptical at first, Dr. Hasan met Hina and Imran on a trip home to Pakistan and was convinced of their passion to come here to study. They
have an uncle in Waukesha whose daughter attended Carroll College, but they don’t see him often because he runs a small business that keeps him busy all
day. During their summer vacation, they hope to travel to Michigan and meet Mr. Clark in person.
As I mentioned earlier, Hina and Imran face other challenges here in Wisconsin. They found sponsors for their first two years at Carroll College, but now
need to raise funds for their final year. They also dream of pursuing advanced degrees and perhaps ultimately obtaining visas that will allow them to work in
the U.S. Their student visas currently only allow them to work at the University at minimum wage and while they can stay at the dorms during the summer,
food service ends and they must rely on friends to take them shopping and again, food preparation is limited to microwave foods.
My friend Gul Afshan and her husband Anders have helped them and taken them to appointments if needed. Dr. Violeta Singson’s clinic provided them
with free medical exams and they hope to schedule eye exams at some point in the future. Hina and Imran were very grateful for the kindness shown them
at the clinic. Hina also has weakness in her left arm that probably is related to LCA and had physical therapy while living in Pakistan. Her mom ensured that
the physical therapy was continued at home, but she would like to continue to receive therapy here.
With a degree in Computer Science, Imran hopes to write technical manuals and also dreams of designing software that will “read” Urdu for the visually
impaired. He knows how difficult it was for him and his sister to complete their education and by developing software that can scan and “read” the Urdu
language, literature and textbooks will become available to other students struggling as he and Hina did. These two talented and charming young people
are working very hard to make the most of the opportunities they find here. The cost of tuition is worrisome for them though and we are trying to find sources
of funding for them. Both of them love to write and Hina especially loves to write poetry. Imran gets excited about writing technical articles and both are
very well spoken and excited about their future. Both want to help provide opportunities for children in their homeland who would not otherwise have access
to the technology to learn about the world outside their homes. Ultimately, they would love to go to a graduate school that specializes in their chosen field,
but are very grateful to Carroll College for the possibilities it has given them.
I am passionate about the importance of education in helping provide better lives for people in areas where they might not have access to a school or,
as in the case of those with disabilities, access to the technology that allows them an education. This is clearly a case of education helping to improve the
lives of many and from those who have lived through the difficulty, they are trying to prevent others from having to go through what they struggled with.
Education also tends to make extremist doctrines far less attractive. Extremism feeds on hopelessness and Imran and Hina are proof that hope lives.
If you are interested in learning more about Hina and Imran, you may contact me at debyt@sbcglobal.net. They would be very interested in meeting
other Pakistani students and families. If you know of anyone who may have the resources to help them, I will also be happy to help you get in touch with
them.
and learned to read Braille as children. They can read Braille in Urdu and English but use adaptive technology to utilize their computers. Hina majored in
English Literature and eventually went into Mass Communication. Her career path would probably have led to her becoming a teacher or perhaps a news
reporter, but employment of people with disabilities in Pakistan is not widely accepted. Imran wanted to study law but was steered away from this so he
studied Mass Communication also and thought he’d like to become a radio producer or write articles for news outlets.
Their family in Pakistan is considered middle class. Their father runs an auto parts business and their mother runs the household. The family moved from
the small village where they were born to Rawalpindi and eventually to Lahore so the children would have access to the best possible educational
opportunities. They have a younger brother and sister back home who are normally sighted. They are able to keep in touch with the family via email and
Skype calls on their computers.
During their schooling in Pakistan, they faced problems with taking exams because the only option available to blind students was to hire a younger
student to read the questions to them and then they dictated answers to the reader. This was inconvenient, as it prevented the opportunity to go back and
review their answers and had no way of knowing if the younger student was actually writing the correct answers or misspelling words. Imran and Hina were
proud of the fact that they were able to convince the Federal Education Board in Pakistan to provide exams in Braille for blind students. Imran mentioned
that there currently are no library resources in Pakistan for people with visual impairment, something he hopes he can help remedy.
They were studying at the University of Lahore when they began a correspondence with a blind American, Gerald Clark, of Port Huron, Mich. They met
via a magazine named Matilda Ziegler, a publication for the visually impaired. Again, I learned something I’d never known. This magazine has been
around since 1907 and benefited Helen Keller at one point. Matilda Ziegler, the wife of a scientific researcher and the mother of a blind son, offered to
underwrite the cost of the publication and her endowment continues to support its printing and online presence. Mr. Clark is older but enjoyed exchanging
tapes with Imran and Hina as it gave him a window to a world he could only experience through the tapes they sent to each other. Mr. Clark had some heart
problems and visited a cardiologist in Michigan, Dr. Sohail Akthar Hasan. He told Dr. Hasan of his friends in Pakistan and discovered that Dr. Hasan was also
Pakistani. While skeptical at first, Dr. Hasan met Hina and Imran on a trip home to Pakistan and was convinced of their passion to come here to study. They
have an uncle in Waukesha whose daughter attended Carroll College, but they don’t see him often because he runs a small business that keeps him busy all
day. During their summer vacation, they hope to travel to Michigan and meet Mr. Clark in person.
As I mentioned earlier, Hina and Imran face other challenges here in Wisconsin. They found sponsors for their first two years at Carroll College, but now
need to raise funds for their final year. They also dream of pursuing advanced degrees and perhaps ultimately obtaining visas that will allow them to work in
the U.S. Their student visas currently only allow them to work at the University at minimum wage and while they can stay at the dorms during the summer,
food service ends and they must rely on friends to take them shopping and again, food preparation is limited to microwave foods.
My friend Gul Afshan and her husband Anders have helped them and taken them to appointments if needed. Dr. Violeta Singson’s clinic provided them
with free medical exams and they hope to schedule eye exams at some point in the future. Hina and Imran were very grateful for the kindness shown them
at the clinic. Hina also has weakness in her left arm that probably is related to LCA and had physical therapy while living in Pakistan. Her mom ensured that
the physical therapy was continued at home, but she would like to continue to receive therapy here.
With a degree in Computer Science, Imran hopes to write technical manuals and also dreams of designing software that will “read” Urdu for the visually
impaired. He knows how difficult it was for him and his sister to complete their education and by developing software that can scan and “read” the Urdu
language, literature and textbooks will become available to other students struggling as he and Hina did. These two talented and charming young people
are working very hard to make the most of the opportunities they find here. The cost of tuition is worrisome for them though and we are trying to find sources
of funding for them. Both of them love to write and Hina especially loves to write poetry. Imran gets excited about writing technical articles and both are
very well spoken and excited about their future. Both want to help provide opportunities for children in their homeland who would not otherwise have access
to the technology to learn about the world outside their homes. Ultimately, they would love to go to a graduate school that specializes in their chosen field,
but are very grateful to Carroll College for the possibilities it has given them.
I am passionate about the importance of education in helping provide better lives for people in areas where they might not have access to a school or,
as in the case of those with disabilities, access to the technology that allows them an education. This is clearly a case of education helping to improve the
lives of many and from those who have lived through the difficulty, they are trying to prevent others from having to go through what they struggled with.
Education also tends to make extremist doctrines far less attractive. Extremism feeds on hopelessness and Imran and Hina are proof that hope lives.
If you are interested in learning more about Hina and Imran, you may contact me at debyt@sbcglobal.net. They would be very interested in meeting
other Pakistani students and families. If you know of anyone who may have the resources to help them, I will also be happy to help you get in touch with
them.
by Debby Tewes
In my previous article, I spoke about the reasons the people come to America and how important it is
to vote to honor that history. The reasons people leave behind all that is familiar are as diverse and
individual as the people themselves, but typically, immigrants come here seeking a better life or
opportunities that might not have been available to them or were denied them for political reasons.
Recently, I had the opportunity to meet two young people who came to America to pursue a dream of
educational opportunities and careers that aren’t readily available in their homeland. They are
pursuing opportunities for careers that they could not see — quite literally — in their homeland of
Pakistan. Imran and his sister Hina came to Waukesha, Wis. to attend Carroll College. Both siblings
were born blind. Their optic nerves are damaged due to a rare birth defect. They have a tentative
diagnosis of Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA).
Hina is the older of the two, age 24, and Imran is 23. They live in the dorms at Carroll College, and
while the campus community has been supportive and accepting, they face challenges not
experienced by typical college students. Hina and Imran are both studying computer science and have
adapted to life on campus well; but there are things that they miss and have problems with. The first
thing they miss and we chuckled over, was access to traditional foods. They are Muslim and have
certain dietary requirements as proscribed by their faith. So food can be problematic. They both
laughed and said they eat a lot of cheese pizza and vegetables but they miss the traditional spices that
they grew up with. They occasionally eat chicken and fish but other meats are not “kosher,” a term that
Imran used, and I was startled by this. Muslim dietary law is very similar to kosher (Jewish dietary law)
restrictions and strictly speaking, in Islamic tradition, it is called halal. With the typical American diet
and dormitory food, you can imagine the struggle they face. They are only allowed a microwave in
their dorm rooms so cooking traditional food can be difficult. The other difficulty, of course, is getting
to a grocery store to find the ingredients! We as Americans, especially sighted Americans, have no
concept of how disabilities are viewed in other countries. Both Imran and Hina were well educated,
In my previous article, I spoke about the reasons the people come to America and how important it is
to vote to honor that history. The reasons people leave behind all that is familiar are as diverse and
individual as the people themselves, but typically, immigrants come here seeking a better life or
opportunities that might not have been available to them or were denied them for political reasons.
Recently, I had the opportunity to meet two young people who came to America to pursue a dream of
educational opportunities and careers that aren’t readily available in their homeland. They are
pursuing opportunities for careers that they could not see — quite literally — in their homeland of
Pakistan. Imran and his sister Hina came to Waukesha, Wis. to attend Carroll College. Both siblings
were born blind. Their optic nerves are damaged due to a rare birth defect. They have a tentative
diagnosis of Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA).
Hina is the older of the two, age 24, and Imran is 23. They live in the dorms at Carroll College, and
while the campus community has been supportive and accepting, they face challenges not
experienced by typical college students. Hina and Imran are both studying computer science and have
adapted to life on campus well; but there are things that they miss and have problems with. The first
thing they miss and we chuckled over, was access to traditional foods. They are Muslim and have
certain dietary requirements as proscribed by their faith. So food can be problematic. They both
laughed and said they eat a lot of cheese pizza and vegetables but they miss the traditional spices that
they grew up with. They occasionally eat chicken and fish but other meats are not “kosher,” a term that
Imran used, and I was startled by this. Muslim dietary law is very similar to kosher (Jewish dietary law)
restrictions and strictly speaking, in Islamic tradition, it is called halal. With the typical American diet
and dormitory food, you can imagine the struggle they face. They are only allowed a microwave in
their dorm rooms so cooking traditional food can be difficult. The other difficulty, of course, is getting
to a grocery store to find the ingredients! We as Americans, especially sighted Americans, have no
concept of how disabilities are viewed in other countries. Both Imran and Hina were well educated,
Siblings Hina (above) and Imran were born blind.
They came to the U.S, from Pakistan, in search of
educational opportunities they didn’t have back
home.
They came to the U.S, from Pakistan, in search of
educational opportunities they didn’t have back
home.
Debby Tewes is Asian
Wisconzine's
correspondent in the
Milwaukee area.
Wisconzine's
correspondent in the
Milwaukee area.