The Youth Ambassadors got together for the second week of training on Saturday 12 January but this time the numbers had jumped to a grand total of 47!

The Youth Ambassadors!

The aim of the training session was to familiarize the group to assistive devices used in the workplace for which we visited Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) and the Rickshaw Office to discuss barriers in society.

We rented a coaster for Youth Ambassadors from Froebel Education Center, Southshore and Ida Rieu. Because of the noisy ride, we took the opportunity to practice sign language whilst on board! This week we were also thrilled to be joined by Youth Ambassadors from AURA.

One of the AURA vans.

Youth Ambassadors from Ida Rieu, Southshore and Froebel Education Center.

At KESC Mr Shariq Karim, General Manager of Customer Services, told us about his experience with making the workplace more inclusive. He also told us about an inspiring programmer with visual impairment who integrated screen readers into their Customer Service Representative programme.

Mr Shariq Karim, General Manager of Customer Services at KESC.

We sat with customer service representatives placed at KESC by our very own NRS. Youth Ambassadors learnt more about screen reading software installed to make the customer service software accessible to people with visual impairment.

Youth Ambassadors speak to Customer Service Representatives with visual impairments.

We then traveled to the Rickshaw Project Office. The Rickshaw Project, managed by Reem Khan, is an initiative of NOWPDP and aims to provide a rickshaw service driven exclusively by people with disabilities. We met the Rickshaw team, and had a debate about usage of words like ‘mazoor’, ‘disability’ and ‘special’. These words often illicit negative and patronizing images of groups that are also excluded in society. We realized that if society was truly inclusive so that no groups were denied access or opportunities, we would have not need to use these words.

At the Rickshaw Project’s Office: discussing barriers to education.

Mrs Bilquis, a senior teacher at Ida Rieu, interprets in sign language for Youth Ambassadors with hearing impairment.

Siraj, part of the Rickshaw Project, shares his experiences with regards to barriers in employment.

 

 

 

Youth Ambassadors discuss barriers in society as it’s documented by Luc Bellon.

We also discussed the attitudinal and environmental barriers surrounding people with disabilities with respect to different spheres in society.

This post is part of a series covering the training of NOWPDP Youth Ambassadors. Find the previous post here!