Three youths with physical disability achieve major academic and sport successes

Physical disability couldn’t weaken the determination of the three Syrian youths: Ward Shaheen, Abdul Karim Al-Baker and Mohammad Qassar Bani Al-Marja, who wanted to make a change in their lives and turn their disability into a source of inspiration that enables them to achieve major successes and be effective persons in society.

The three youths completed their school study at Al-Amal Institute for Persons with Disabilities in Damascus. Later, they chose different paths to make their future and their efforts were crowned by notable achievements.

Ward Shaheen, 22-years-old, said that he has had a disability since birth that prevented him from walking, but hope, derived from his teachers at the institute, enabled him to challenge and overcome his disability and proceed steadily towards a better future.

Ward, who is now a third year student at the Faculty of Informatics Engineering, added that he joined several courses on IT networks that enabled him to start his own pre-graduation project, represented in an online mobile application to manage an online store for buying and selling products. He is currently trying to achieve an online application that offers services to facilitate getting medical information.

Abdul Karim Al-Baker, 28-year-old, who is a player for the Syrian national team for special sports, said he was encouraged by his coach at Al-Amal Institute to achieve his passion in sport. He has chosen the shot-put and discus throwing as his sport career and he managed to make several international achievements, including winning a bronze medal in the Asian Youth Tournament in Malaysia 2013 and a gold medal in the World Cup Championship for shot-put throwing in 2021 in UAE.

Al-Baker, who is also a student of English Literature at Damascus University, is getting ready to participate in the Asian Tournament scheduled to be held in China next year.

Mohammad Qassar Bani Al-Marja, 25-year-old, has chosen to study graphic design and photography. He worked in several media platforms, besides achieving gains in wheelchair basketball and weightlifting sports. He won the first place in the Republic’s Championship for Weightlifting in 2018 and took part in several Republic’s Championships for wheelchair basketball.

Hamda Mustafa