Zainab Lodi’s Parents’ Comments

It was a very difficult time when we found out that our daughter Zainab had dyslexia. We were clueless about what to do, where to go, and will she be able to study like a normal child? With all the fears and confusions, we were literally lost.

Several names were recommended, and we also visited a few for her remedials. Ms. Mehmooda Ghazi from I-DARE was also referred by one of our friends. When we visited her, she read Zainab’s evaluation report and guided us. In a long meeting with her, she explained to us what exactly the problem is and also gave us hope that she will learn to overcome her issues. Though, we still were unsure but at least had some light of hope.

I remember, it was about June and the schools were closed for summer vacations when Zainab started remedials. We could not realize the improvement though our fears and uncertainty reduced, as we found Ms. Ghazi to be very accommodative and polite. Most importantly, Zainab started getting attached not only to her but found lots of good friends that didn’t bully her. Seeing her enjoying the place, our fears also started to go down.

We still remember, when school opened in August, Zainab had a new library teacher who accidentally asked her to read in her library period. Everyone in the class was ready to bully her for not being able to read, neither she had the confidence in herself. She started reading. The new teacher, not knowing her history, gave Zainab a badge acknowledging her skills to read. She came back home literally with a glittering face and discovering that she could read now. There was a lot of ground to cover, but this was her first success in just 2 months of remedial.

That day onwards, our fear reduced gradually, and Zainab continued her remedial with Ms. Ghazi for the next 4 years. With the training, love, guidance, and friends, Zainab was able to write her first novel at the age of 13 years which was published by Amazon UK. This was followed by her selection in a global Young Writers Program, named “Between the Lines,” organized by the University of Iowa, USA. She represented Pakistan out of 500 students who had applied for the program. This not only gave her confidence but also gave her lots of international exposure.

All thanks to “I-DARE” and Ms. Ghazi.

Ashar & Madiha Lodi