Catholic center gives disabled new hope

A Catholic rehabilitation center here is giving new hope to people with physical or mental disabilities.

John Yousaf, left with a lifelong neurological condition after a head injury in a playground fall when he was three years old, became a teacher and a barber with the support of the center, established by Caritas-Pakistan and run by a lay Catholic.

John Yousaf giving a customer a shave

“After teaching children in primary classes during the day, my regular customers call on me at my house in the evening for a haircut,” Yousaf, 19, told UCA News.

He is one of 42 disabled people aged from three to 22 currently being supported by Hayat-e-Nau (New Life), the only day care rehabilitation center in Hyderabad district, Sindh province.

Caritas Pakistan Hyderabad (CPH) launched the program in 1997. The Catholic Church runs 16 similar centers throughout the country.

Hayat-e-Nau offers formal education up to grade five to 23 of its patients while older patients, such as Yousaf, are provided with free medication at home.

The center´s trained staff includes a physiotherapist and three special education teachers involved in various therapies using arts and crafts, music, exercise, gardening and sports.

Many patients suffer from epilepsy, a brain disorder that causes recurring seizures, and are taken to a clinic for check-ups every three months.

For all these services, the rehabilitation center charges a monthly fee ranging from 100 (US$1.38) to 700 rupees according to the resources of the patient´s family.

“More than 70 percent of our patients are Muslims and poor Christians are charged a minimal fee,” Javed Sadiq, the Catholic founder and director, told UCA News. He said financial problems were the greatest challenge to patients such as these to find care.

Javed Sadiq formed a street theater group to help raise money for the center

The center is funded by donations from Pakistan and abroad but Sadiq has also formed a street theater team, with youths who come from Catholic schools, to support his project. His team charges 5,000 rupees a performance with education the aim of the show.

“We target the general public to inform them about HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and gender equality,” he said.

“It is hard for me to purchase a monthly medication of 2,800 rupees for cerebral palsy [a disorder caused by permanent brain injury] and epilepsy,” said Sadiq.

Previous patients of the center include Kiran Gill, 29, who is now working as an accountant at Caritas.

“The center helped contribute in purchasing braces for my right leg, which had been affected by polio. It paid for my examination fees and helped me find a job,” she told UCA News.

“Disabled people need more luck, along with capability, when finding jobs, especially at times of high unemployment,” Gill said.