I Started to Believe in All My Possibilities.

I was born with several congenital deformities, which affected my left leg and both hands.

My disability has caused me many difficulties in my life. I remember feeling stressed when I was very young, every time another child stopped to stare at my body.

At the age of 34, EMERGENCY’s Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration Centre here in Iraq provided me an orthopaedic support for the first time.

Thanks to a custom-made orthopaedic support, I can balance my legs properly. I can walk without fear.

And who would have thought that today my hands would be folding fabrics, sewing clothes, attaching belts and buttons?!

I became a tailor by graduating from one of the vocational training courses run by EMERGENCY here in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. It wasn’t just me in my group. There were many other patients, people living with congenital disabilities like me, and amputees who have fallen victim to landmines.

Now, thanks to EMERGENCY’s support, I also have my own workshop. For me it’s a daily cure, a continuous rehabilitation of the body and also the mind.

Sitting in front of this sewing machine, I stopped thinking about my limits and started to believe in all my possibilities.

— Hanifa