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- Village Vision
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- Top of the Class
- Africa without river blindness
- Hakim's Story
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- Talking to Angeline Akai
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- Learn More
Muhammad Atif Sheikh receiving an award for STEP © Sightsavers
Muhammad Atif Sheikh
Muhammad Atif Sheikh is the president and one of the founder members of Sightsavers' partner STEP (Special Talent Exchange Program), based in Islamabad, Pakistan. He took a few moments to answer some questions about this fantastic organisation, and some of the challenges it faces.
What is STEP and what does it do?
It's a cross disability organization, that aims to empower disabled people. STEP carries out training in things like IT and independent living, and at the same time we lobby the government to address the rights of disabled persons in legislation. Major achievements include Pakistan signing the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
What motivated you to set up the organisation?
Being a disabled person myself I have faced all kinds of barriers, including the negative behaviour of society since my early school life. Along with other disabled persons who have vigorously struggled to achieve a better life, we decided to create a platform for other people with disabilities, to empower them.
Can you describe a typical day?
Not a single day is similar to the previous day in STEP, every day we face new challenges. In normal routine of work, we would listen to disabled persons coming from different parts of the country. They share with us their needs as well as new ideas to change their environment. Outreach visits, meetings with stakeholders and training workshops cover the major part of our work.
What do you do when you finish work for the day?
We don't leave the office without some entertainment or refreshments gathering at the end of the day. Most of the people work with us voluntarily or on low wages, so we need to keep them motivated.
What inspires you in your job?
Changing people's lives. In the last decade STEP has helped over 1,000 disabled people to live a better and more independent life.
What do you find most challenging?
To change people's attitudes towards disability, which sometimes seems impossible to achieve. Another challenge is to convince people that disabled people can work for themselves. In developing societies like Pakistan disabled persons are seen as objects of sympathy. If our struggle would be successful, disabled people will not be discriminated against and they would not be considered as lesser citizens.
