For Muhammad Ali, father of a 17-year-old boy, “no one thinks or cares about disabled people”. Caritas made him “feel that my son is also important for someone.” Providing “food packages among Muslim brothers and sisters is an example of religious harmony” that transcends “differences”, said Caritas Karachi executive secretary.
Karachi (AsiaNews) – “Today no one thinks or cares about disabled people,” said Muhammad Ali speaking to AsiaNews. His 17-year-old son, Muhammad Rizwan, suffers from intellectual disability. “I thank Caritas Pakistan Karachi for making me feel that my son is also important for someone,” he added.
“We are poor and raising a child with an intellectual disability is not easy, but we try to do our best. Due to our poverty, we could not provide him medicines and healthy food. Today we received a food package from Caritas, which allows us to joyfully celebrate the feast of Eid,” which marks the end of the holy month of fasting of Ramadan.
Last Friday, Caritas organised an Eid festival in Karachi, with the support of the Robin Hood Army Pakistan. Christian activists handed out food packages to Muslim families with disabled minors.
The event was held at the St Catharine Boys Hostel, Khuda Ki Basti, Karachi. Some 34 families from the Lyari resettlement received gifts for Eid from Mansha Noor, Amir Robin of Caritas, and Mr Faisal from the Robin Hood Army.
According to UN estimates, more than 650 million people have disabilities in the world, mostly in underdeveloped nations. Pakistan officially recognised the issue in 2002.
A survey by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics titled “Disabled population by nature of disability” reported 3,286,630 people with disabilities in the country. The latter include blindness, deafness, speech impairment, as well as mental and physical disabilities.
“Distributing food packages among Muslim brothers and sisters is an example of religious harmony,” said Caritas Karachi executive secretary Mansha Noor. “Humanity is higher than differences of religion and we will continue this practice in the future”.