This month we are featuring Haider Ali. Haider is a young man from Islamabad, Pakistan who is being awarded a Reach Scholarship. His application demonstrated that he is relentless in his pursuit to Reach higher and to challenge people’s perceptions of his capabilities as well as his desire to Elevate the people in his community.
Haider experienced a devastating loss as a young boy. His father passed away unexpectedly, and he and his mother were left financially dependent on relatives. Then, at age five, another adversity struck: he went completely blind due to a medical complication. In his words:
“People did not see any hope for me in such difficult conditions. Yet my mother never gave up on me and with her support, I eventually completed my higher education at Iqura University in Islamabad, Pakistan where I studied International Relations. Throughout my life I have faced countless challenges. However, that has never stopped me from achieving my ambitions. So far, I have summited Musa kaMusalla, Nanga Parbat Base camp, and Ganga Choti – among others. My major triumphs include being selected as one of the few student leaders from thousands of applicants for the SUSI program in which I was funded by the US dept. of State. I was also awarded the runners-up prize for the Queens Young Leaders Award, administered by the University of Cambridge, for my work on promotion of adventure sports in Pakistan.
Despite my disability, I was passionate about adventure sports. I started para-climbing, rappelling and hiking and I loved all of it. There was even a documentary made on me called The Dark Climb that was selected as the top 4 finalists at the International Mountain Film Festival. But my passion is helping others, and I want to train other disabled people in Pakistan to pursue these activities. I also want to train personnel in my country to work with disabled people and work toward the betterment of my community. Unfortunately, Pakistan has a lack of training, jobs, and development opportunities for blind people. That is why I would like to attend the No Barriers Summit, learn more about how to achieve my dreams, and partner with like-minded people.”
I’m honored that Haider took the initiative to reach out to my team and cannot wait to meet him in person in a few weeks at the No Barriers Summit!
