My name is Waqar Younas, and I am from Karachi, Pakistan.

I was not born blind; I lost my eyesight when I was six years old after falling down the stairs. I visited many doctors, but my eyes could not be cured. After that, I joined a school for the blind and completed my matriculation from Ida Riew School for the Blind and Deaf.

I wanted to do a Master’s degree in English, so I went to different language centers and tried my best to improve my English. In 2005, I received the Best Student of the Year award at an English language learning center.

While I was searching for a good college, I learned about a scholarship from Madrassa An-Noor for the Blind in South Africa. Mr. Shahid Memon, Chairman of the Pakistan Disabled Foundation, encouraged me to apply. Alhamdulillah, I was selected and went to South Africa in 2006. I studied there for seven years and completed my Aalim course and a Master’s degree in Islamic Studies in 2013. During this time, I learned many valuable skills.

After returning to Pakistan, I began teaching Arabic Braille in different schools for the blind. Alhamdulillah, I also taught many blind students how to use computers with Braille.

In 2015, I started my own organization called Blind Resource Foundation Pakistan. After two years, we began printing Braille Qur’an and distributing them free of cost all over the country. We also started online teaching. At present, about 70 students from different parts of Pakistan are learning with us.

We teach Braille, computer skills, mobility training, mobile phone usage, and daily living skills. Our main goal is to make blind people independent so that they can stand on their own feet instead of depending on others.