Fostering Friendships - Enhancing Social Bonds in the Classroom
Flight of Empowerment - Faisal Nawaz
1. FLIGHT OF EMPOWERMENT
‘Disability is not a curse, it’s a god gift for special person!’
Faisal Nawaz
Founder of ‘Light for Life’ fighting against gender
discrimination and aiming to empower women
2. Born with polio and life-threatening
disease Scoliosis (a severe curvature of
the spine), Faisal never let his illness
hamper his vision to achieve his dreams
or help others to spread their wings.
3. Today his project ‘Light for Life’ under the banner of
Foundation for Indian Integration and Rights (FIIR),
encourages numerous Muslims to step outside their
household and make a name for themselves.
Through his project ‘Light for Life’, Faisal and his team
provide education, employment and skill development
training to young girls.
4. A central government employee, Faisal
talks about his journey toward women
empowerment. “It was a visit from a
neighbour’s daughter that made me realise
that gender inequalities are still prevalent
in my community. How a girl’s education is
stopped midway because of the
conservative nature of the family.”
5. Currently, the centre has about 100 regular
students between the age of seven to 30. Nawaz
aims to bridge the gap between religion and
modernity.
6. In Faisal’s own words on future roadmap, “The aim
is to work towards bringing an all-round
development of Muslim girls in the area to help
them break stereotypes and gain education to find
employment. I want to continue my work with
upgrading the techniques and technology in the
training methods and increase the reach of my
centre to maximum number of students.”