In the chaos and cacophony called Karachi, some stories are always on mute; for instance the dehumanisation of the differently-abled. Those who can’t hear are tuned out; those who can’t see are abandoned in the dark; while those who can’t speak are left to their silence.
But enter the world of the differently-abled and you’d find great devotion to the idea of doing something, anything, which will allow them to recover their dignity and self-respect.
Homework Pakistan is located on the fifth floor of the Al Tijarah Centre, a business centre located along the busy Sharea Faisal. A relatively new platform for freelancers, Homework Pakistan is a venture of an entrepreneur couple Dr Nousheen Zakaria and Omar Ali. The duo first set up a digital marketing and solutions agency called The Code It Company, before branching out with Homework Pakistan. Both companies are housed in the same space. What separates them from the others, however, is that discrimination based on impairment is neither tolerated nor entertained by the couple.
A start-up is creating optimism by facilitating interactions between the differently-abled and the rest of the community
“Do you see that young woman?” Dr Zakaria points towards a woman on the phone in The Code It Company office. “She is partially blind.” Then she points to her design team. “My top three designers are all hearing-impaired.”
The young woman being spoken about is Zoya. From a distance, it isn’t even clear that Zoya is visually impaired. But talk to her and she makes apparent both her condition and the challenges that it entails.
“People get put off when people with disabilities apply for jobs,” she says. “There is no sense of equality, nobody empathises with you. This, in turn, creates a fear of rejection.”
Freelancing is a career unto itself but only if youngsters understand the rules of the game
But not so at the office, according to Zoya, where inclusivity is the name of the game. In fact, team leaders at The Code It Company are required to learn sign language to ensure that no colleague is left behind, and project demands and client needs can be effectively communicated to all staff.
“One of my hearing-impaired employees once complained in a staff meeting that his team leader wasn’t signing,” says Dr Zakaria. “He said that the team leader was expecting his hearing-impaired employees to read his lips and understand what is being asked of him. He wanted the team leader to learn sign language and that is exactly what we did.”
But this interaction sparked a larger discussion between Dr Zakaria and Ali. As entrepreneurs, they recognised that a need exists to train those who have been written off by society at large, and to find them gainful employment.
But enter the world of the differently-abled and you’d find great devotion to the idea of doing something, anything, which will allow them to recover their dignity and self-respect.
Homework Pakistan is located on the fifth floor of the Al Tijarah Centre, a business centre located along the busy Sharea Faisal. A relatively new platform for freelancers, Homework Pakistan is a venture of an entrepreneur couple Dr Nousheen Zakaria and Omar Ali. The duo first set up a digital marketing and solutions agency called The Code It Company, before branching out with Homework Pakistan. Both companies are housed in the same space. What separates them from the others, however, is that discrimination based on impairment is neither tolerated nor entertained by the couple.
A start-up is creating optimism by facilitating interactions between the differently-abled and the rest of the community
“Do you see that young woman?” Dr Zakaria points towards a woman on the phone in The Code It Company office. “She is partially blind.” Then she points to her design team. “My top three designers are all hearing-impaired.”
The young woman being spoken about is Zoya. From a distance, it isn’t even clear that Zoya is visually impaired. But talk to her and she makes apparent both her condition and the challenges that it entails.
“People get put off when people with disabilities apply for jobs,” she says. “There is no sense of equality, nobody empathises with you. This, in turn, creates a fear of rejection.”
Freelancing is a career unto itself but only if youngsters understand the rules of the game
But not so at the office, according to Zoya, where inclusivity is the name of the game. In fact, team leaders at The Code It Company are required to learn sign language to ensure that no colleague is left behind, and project demands and client needs can be effectively communicated to all staff.
“One of my hearing-impaired employees once complained in a staff meeting that his team leader wasn’t signing,” says Dr Zakaria. “He said that the team leader was expecting his hearing-impaired employees to read his lips and understand what is being asked of him. He wanted the team leader to learn sign language and that is exactly what we did.”
But this interaction sparked a larger discussion between Dr Zakaria and Ali. As entrepreneurs, they recognised that a need exists to train those who have been written off by society at large, and to find them gainful employment.
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