In Tajikistan, it is difficult for people with disabilities to realize their potential for various reasons. First and foremost, this is due to the lack of an accessible environment in most cities and districts and the inability to move around on their own. It is also difficult for them to find a job, in a country where unemployment rates are high and among physically fit people.
But there are people for whom disability is not a hindrance.
Sheroz Yormamadov is one of 43,000 people with disabilities in the northern Sughd province of Tajikistan. Despite his diagnosis – cerebral palsy – he actively develops his talents. Now he has successfully mastered riding an electric scooter, which he controls with his hands, and is mastering the profession of web-designer.
Sheroz is 21 years old and is the oldest child in the family. By now he knows that disability is not a sentence. But in the beginning, he was even afraid to go out.
He says that once, moving around in his wheelchair, he would approach the gate of his house and quietly watch what was going on outside. Back then, not only did he have problems with his arms and legs, he could barely walk, but he couldn’t see very well.
But one day, just like that, watching the street from the yard, he saw a man who looked like himself, riding freely on a scooter. That’s when he had a dream – to ride freely like that, too. After that, every day Sheroz would sit in his wheelchair at the gate and wait for that man to ride down his street!
“One day I waited for him and shouted with all my might: “Stop, please. I need to ask you something!” A young man about forty-five years old stopped and slowly began to approach me!”, Sheroz recounted.
At that moment he had hundreds of questions in his head, but the first one was, “How do you ride that scooter?” The young man smiled and said: “It’s simple, do you want me to teach you?”
There were tears in Sheroz’s eyes and a smile on his face, and he immediately nodded his head! Thus began their friendship. The young man talked and Sheroz listened intently! He also talked about where he rode his scooter every day, he helped Sheroz buy a scooter and taught him how to ride. And then he told him that there is a man in their town who teaches programming and design skills to people with disabilities for free.
That meeting changed Sheroz’s life. After a while he started riding his scooter to his teacher, Firdavs Yormatov. This man is a programmer himself and on his own initiative teaches people with disabilities his skills.
“Sheroz is one of seven students I have taught programming and design. He’s very talented, quick to grasp, and has a sharp mind. I started this initiative 2-3 years ago, teaching one young man with a disability. He told others like himself about it, and then others started coming to me. I could not refuse them. After they started attending classes and working mentally, the parents say they have become more relaxed! They have developed an interest in life, they feel they are needed in society. I urge parents who have children with disabilities to take their child to such places so that they can develop mentally,” says Firdavs Yormatov, founder of DOODLE.Tj web studio.
After training, Sheroz started designing websites little by little. Now he is working on designing his own page.
In Tajikistan, life is very difficult for people with disabilities. Their monthly pension varies from 198 to 700 somoni (US $18 to $64), depending on their disability group and length of service. But most of them find it difficult to find a job and fulfill themselves. Experts say the benefits and pensions the state pays them do not cover their expenses.
“It’s essentially a poverty allowance, if you can call it that. It does not correspond to any even hygienic, medical, subsistence levels, not to mention the minimum subsistence basket, for which there is no law in Tajikistan,” said economist, Aziz Timurov at a CABAR.asia expert meeting on pension systems.
Ramziddin Juraev, chairman of the branch of the national association of disabled people of Tajikistan in B. Gafurov district, Sughd province, believes that people with disabilities in Tajikistan are limited in many ways and, above all, in movement, because there is no accessible environment for them in cities and villages.
“I can come to any office, but I may not be able to go inside due to inaccessibility for people with disabilities. But the situation is gradually changing. There is now a 5% quota for employment of people with disabilities. I know a person with disabilities who works at the National Bank,” he said.
Lola Ashurova, chairman of the Sughd Society for the Disabled, says that the region has more than 43,000 people with various disabilities. To the best of its ability, the organization helps people with disabilities with job placement. She said that since 2001, they have trained and employed more than 1,700 people with disabilities.
Sheroz Yormamadov dreams of launching his services on the market as a web designer. He has already started making money and says his life has changed significantly for the better.
“The first time I got paid for my work, I was insanely happy. I held the money in my hands for a long time and looked at it. I couldn’t imagine that I would ever make money. That feeling cannot be described! To be independent and to know that you too can give something to the world. After that, I started trying my hand at buying and selling. I noticed that right from the Somon.tj website I could find things and, without leaving home, sell them. Now, I make a living on my own. I am very happy about it. Now I’m saving my money and intend to get married soon,” Sheroz said.