A life transformed

Jahanara spent the first 27 years of her life sitting indoors doing nothing.

She never went to school because her parents didn't know it was an option.

She couldn't work, cook or read. She couldn't even strike a match to light a candle.

She'd still be there if her life hadn't undergone a dramatic transformation in 2009.

The reason for Jahanara's restricted life within four walls was simple. She had been born blind.

In Bangladesh, as in many other parts of the world, that's often enough for your future to be written off.

Jahanara's life changed only because she started a training programme organised by Sightsavers.

Over the next three months she learnt life-changing skills, from everyday tasks like doing her hair to using public transport, and she learnt how to read braille.

The training programme launched Jahanara on a life journey she had never dreamt possible. She joined a follow-up scheme (funded by the European Commission) focusing on rights and earning a living. And along the way she met her husband-to-be!

Jahanara is now a wife, mother and president of a self-help group.

She's become a passionate advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, and an articulate expert on what the national laws of Bangladesh promise them. She's secured police involvement for victims of crime, help for people with housing crises, and funding to buy wheelchairs, blankets and equipment.

Today Jahanara is as comfortable negotiating with local government officials, police commissioners, philanthropists and mayors as she is immersing herself in family life.

At home, meanwhile, simple household tasks which once seemed out of reach are now part of the daily routine. And there's music too.

Jahanara's work to transform the lives of other people with disabilities has the full support of her husband Jashim.

Her transformation is also part of a wider story. Communities are becoming more accepting of people with disabilities. Officials are starting to recognise and plan for their needs.

This one family's story is helping change attitudes. Breaking down barriers is a big challenge, but it's achievable.

It's a story which nearly didn't happen. This happy portrait is of a family which might never have existed.

Jahanara might still have been confined to four walls with no one believing she was capable of anything.

Sightsavers and its partners will keep up the life-transforming work to reach, train and empower people with disabilities.

Too many people remain trapped by negative attitudes towards disability, which increase poverty, stigma and discrimination. Nearly 430 million people with disabilities are living below the poverty line in developing countries. The work isn't done yet.