When Asif Khan walked across the stage at the University of Guyana’s (UG) convocation to collect his degree in International Relations (IR) just over a week ago, he believed it was not a victorious moment for him but one for other persons with disabilities.
Khan, 22, believes that he is the first visually-impaired person to have graduated with a degree in IR.
Khan’s journey to graduation day on November 16th, 2019 was a long and winding one but looking back he said it was worth every ounce of the physical, emotional and psychological energy he expended to get there.
The Diamond, East Bank Demerara graduate was born with a visual impairment that got progressively worse as he got older. Not one to dwell on the negative as aspects of his life, Khan said he has always had great support from his family. That support did not come from his parents; he credits two women, Nalani Lall and Leila Anderson, his paternal aunt and grandmother, respectively, for playing major roles in getting him where he is today.
Passion
In an interview, the new graduate said he has always had a deep passion for politics, governance and how countries build bilateral relations. He said he has also had a passion for humanitarianism, helping and giving back to society.
Dr Edward Greene.
“I am now more equipped to work in the field of community development and with non-governmental organisations and, more importantly, my ultimate goal is to get involved in policy making at some point in the near future,” the young man said.
At some point, he said, he will get into politics and use the platform to influence policies “when it comes to the vulnerable and more importantly trying to make the changes when it comes to bringing persons out of poverty.” He also wants to see the improvement of policies for persons with disabilities, especially in the education sector.
Khan, a teacher at the Ministry of Education’s unit for the visually-impaired, has been teaching since 2017. While it was difficult for him juggling working and studying, Khan said he has never seriously thought of giving up.
Khan was born with nystagmus, a vision condition in which the eyes make repetitive, uncontrolled movements. The movements often result in reduced vision and depth perception and can affect balance and coordination. These involuntary eye movements can occur from side to side, up and down, or in a circular pattern.
He later developed another condition which affects the cornea, which, he said, if corrected, will allow him some amount of vision. The latter condition was detected when he commenced studies at the University of Guyana.
“I am not completely blind. I can recognise some things around me, but not from a distance, not when there is too much sunlight,” he shared.
But Khan said he has always been fortunate to get family support and, “I am very fortunate to get an education from nursery right up to tertiary, which not many disabled persons are able to get because of our country’s education system.”
And it was not just his family, Khan said. Even as far back as primary school, he recalled, he had friends who would always be there for him and this continued right up to university, where he had some “really great friends. I cannot forget my lecturers. They treated me normal, just like all the other students, they supported me a lot.”
Challenges
Khan has faced many challenges throughout his life, even though does not dwell on those things.
While he was not bullied, Khan said he was affected by the way he was looked at by children and adults and at times it felt as if his eye problem was contagious. But he said he ensured that his mind was not set on this and it never hindered him from studying “and doing everything.” He gets that ‘look’ even today and said there are times when he is stereotyped, and people would make comments like, ‘let the blind boy pass.’ But he said his positive childhood is what laid the foundation for him for him to be where he is today and to assist him to work and study.
“There are so many things you have to deal with that after a time you just blank [them] out. After the first couple of times it occurred [stereotyping]… I did not allow it to bother me,” he said.
There were times as well when he had difficulty getting public transportation as there were drivers who preferred not to pick him up, but now he is familiar with the bus and taxi drivers and things are much easier.
Khan was born in Bartica but later moved to Industry, East Coast Demerara and then to Diamond where he has lived since. He said he was not fortunate to grow up with his parents, but his aunt played a crucial role in assisting him to get an education.
“She really went out of her way to ensure that I went to school. She put in the work [and] never gave up until I was actually able to be on my own. Also, my grandmother, she was also instrumental, I still live with her,” he said.
At one point, Khan said, he lived alone while his grandmother was out of the country and he really struggled to manage work and university and coping with chores. “I had to adapt to being more independent in terms of cleaning, doing some basic cooking and washing. It took a lot out of my education and I had some dropping back. That period did affect me academically,” Khan said.
Asked about his parents, Khan hesitated before saying that they are no longer together. He said they share two sons, inclusive of him, but they both have other children.
He believes his disability, among other things, contributed to his parents’ separation and he said he has never had a relationship with his mother, but he communicates with his father and his brother, who lives with his mother.
He acknowledged that not communicating with his mother has impacted him, but he does not dwell on it and stressed that he had a “pretty good childhood”.
Not having parental guidance did impact him negatively as he approached adulthood, but he was strong enough to focus on having an education. After graduating from St Rose’s with seven subjects in 2013, Khan said, he went on to sixth form and graduated with passing scores in Sociology, Law, Caribbean Studies and Communications. Initially, he wanted to do law at UG but found it was a difficult programme to enter and he then moved to IR. The dream of becoming a lawyer still burns within him as he has a passion for maritime and international law.
As for teaching, Khan said it was never a career he had thought about but as he studied, he wanted to challenge himself and teaching was available. It also gave him the opportunity to give back to the education system he benefitted from and in the process become financially independent. He holds the position of temporary qualified master and he teaches every day. While he plans to remain a teacher for now, Khan said he will be looking for opportunities in IR. He said while he loves his job he wants more. He shared that he is passionate about local government.
He has every intention of one day getting into politics at the party level and he has been debating what direction he should take when he decides to do so but said he will have to research the political parties’ policies and programmes before making a decision. He said he would have to join a party if he wants to be in mainstream politics as Guyana’s political framework does not allow an independent candidate to make it into the National Assembly. And while politics is where he wants to go one day, working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also an option.
Inspiration
Telling his stories and sharing his dreams, Khan hopes, will serve as an inspiration to young people, especially those who may have a disability. He shared that he has even inspired some of his university colleagues, as one told him that at one point he wanted to quit but it was Khan’s perseverance in spite of his disability that made him push on.
And Khan revealed that coming down to final months even he felt like giving up many times when he looked at the scope of work he had to complete.
But he made it in the end, though he noted that UG lacks the facilities to assist persons with disabilities and there are no policies addressing such persons. He pointed out that he benefited more from the support of his lecturers rather than the support of the institution.
“The university does not have a disability resource centre, where persons with disabilities can go and get help,” Khan said.
He believes that more must be done to assist persons with a disability to access better education at the university.
