Standing tall: Fighting the odds, Amarti Bai earns degree

SUKKUR:

The support of her parents and siblings was a source of such strength to physically-challenged Amarti Bai that on Saturday, she very proudly obtained her Bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Sukkur Institute of Business Administration.

Talking to The Express Tribune at the institute’s second convocation, Amarti Bai, a resident of Daharki, said that like her siblings, she started walking at the age of 11 months. “When I turned a year and a half, I was attacked by polio,” she narrated. “It was so severe that both of my legs as well as my lower back were paralysed, leaving me bedridden.”

After receiving treatment, her condition improved and she began walking with the help of crutches, which she says are now an integral part of who she is. “I don’t know what made me so strong that I refused to give in to my disability,” she remarked. “Instead, I started going to school and after completing Matriculation from Daharki, I moved to Sukkur and passed my Intermediate exams. Now, I have graduated with a Bachelor’s degree.” Her plan is to pursue a job teaching others.

In her message to girls and their parents, she said that when a girl was educated, it meant that a family had been educated. “Never give up — instead, force your weakness to succumb to your willpower.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2015.