His disability has not deprived him from completing his education until he reached the university level. He decided to rise over the pain of his disability, and overcome the obstacles and to follow his own dream and hope till his aspirations come true.

Abdul Qadir Bakr is a Palestinian young man at the age of twenty two. He suffered from a congenital defect that caused h motor impairment in his right foot, but the disability of Abdul Qadir has not constituted an obstacle to achieve his dreams, where he continued his university education and graduated from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at Al Azhar University. Like other graduates, Abdul Qadir collided with the bitter reality and the lack of employment opportunities available. The difference is that Abdul Qadir did not give up his ambitions and did not stop there, but put another goal in mind and worked hard to achieve. Abdul Qadir says: “When I graduated from the university, I did not find any job in the university area of specialization. Moreover, my disability formed an obstacle for being employed, so I joined Irada program where you found myself. I wanted to learn a craft to qualify me for the job market and be a source of income to me and my family in the future. “

Abdul Qadir had the opportunity of training in the project “Creating job opportunities for Persons with Disabilities” which is implemented by Irada program and funded by the OPEC Fund for International Development and under the supervision of the United Nations Development Programme UNDP. A glimmer of hope was born for a better future. Abdul Qadir says about his experience: “I joined the program and choose upholstering sofas craft where I had a feeling that I will excel in this job. It is also more appropriate to the nature of my disability. Moreover, I am a young educated man and require this knowledge and measurements to excel in my profession. I began training and I got to know the types of sofas the materials and tools used for manufacturing it, as I got to know the measurements and how to cut and assemble wood and sew the cloth up to the processing and finishing stages. ”

The success of Abdel Kader was not confined within the training workshop only, but he managed to develop good relationships with employers in this area. Because of his high self-confidence and strong will and determination to succeed he was able, before graduating, to work in the field of upholstering sofas for a private workshop. The employer of the workshop relied on Abdul Qader in manufacturing his customers’ products, praising at the same time the quality of production.

Vocational training was the first step to Abdul Qadir new dream. It helped him to acquire practical skills for a profession of upholstering sofas and became eligible for the labor market, and grew with it the hope of becoming the Self Employed near future. When asked about his ambitions Abdul Qadir said: “I now aspire to have my own workshop where I work and excel in the field of upholstering sofas. “

Abdul Qadir Bakr was able to change the negative perception of the productivity of persons with disabilities, and proved that they are able to work have an active role in the community once they have a supporting environment that helps them to access to their right to education, rehabilitation and employment.