6th Unified SOP Marathon at Emaar Crescent Bay’s office dated 28th Feb 2021.
Run for INCLUSION, EMPOWERMENT and promoting AWARENESS for the Differently Abled people. We all are part of one society. Hats off to Ms Ronak Lakhani for organising this every year with full dedication & positive energy.
Farhat Rasheed received Champions of Pakistan award at Conclave Pakistan
Grateful to be invited as a Guest of Honour by Greenwich University at their Convocation 2019. It was an amazing experience! 😊
THE LEGACY PANELIST for the evening – Farhat Rasheed, Director & Rasheed Jan Mohammad, CEO – Westbury Group of Companies at CONCLAVE PAKISTAN – Women of Pakistan
Pride of Pakistan Award to both father & daughter by Conclave Pakistan on 22nd Nov 2019
Farhat Rasheed received “Millennial of Inspiration” Award from Ladiesfund.
KARACHI: Dawood Global Foundation (DGF) hosted the LADIESFUND Millennial Masterclass 2018, on Saturday, 14th April in Karachi and launched LADIESFUND Millennial which is a platform to empower, train and highlight Pakistani Millennials. LADIESFUND 2018 Millennial of Inspirations included Sohai Ali Abro, Sahar Paracha, Farhat Rasheed, Neha Mashooqullah, Jahanzaib, Owais Asif, and Mehreen Hashmi were the “rockstar” millennial mentors at the event, along with Chief Guest, iconic philanthropist and entrepreneur, Masarrat Misbah.
150 professionals, entrepreneurs and young Millennials gathered to form professional friendships, meet potential clients and build/strengthen their network for career advancement purposes. Spotted in the audience were Amin Gulgee, former Governor Kamal Azfar, Moneeza Butt, Nazneen Tariq Khan, Sana Rasheed Khan, Omayr Saiyid among others.
LADIESFUND President, Tara Uzra Dawood said, “We are so excited to share that LADIESFUND is in its 10th year and today, we are here to launch LADIESFUND Millennial which has been created to promote excellence among Pakistani males and females 20-35 years of age. It’s a great honour and pleasure to highlight and encourage Pakistani Millennials who are the future of this nation and making all of us proud.”
Chief Guest Masarrat Misbah said that “If you face some difficulties,” she told the audience, “know that it is given by God so you can help those by your learning.”
“Because of Zenith, I got a chance to let people know by my movie The Motorcyle Girl that Pakistan is actually a safe company for a girl to travel alone and I hope after this movie, we will be able to see more women riding bicycles on the road,” said Millennial of Inspiration Sohai Ali Abro.
Millennial of Inspiration Saher Paracha said, “Many people ask us that how did we convince a global brand to give us the franchise in Pakistan and we proudly say that they were actually looking for partners in Pakistan knowing how amazing the Pakistan Fashion Industry is, so we never had to convince them.”
Attendees found particularly valuable both the panel discussion – which was full of insightful questions on standing out from the crowd, how to get a franchise and how to find out what your life purpose is – as well as the speed mentoring session with the Millennials of Inspiration.
In 2013, LADIESFUND introduced for the first time in Pakistan the Speed Networking Luncheon, which replicated the Harvard-style speed networking where more than 100 guests were seated face-to-face to network with each other, with a ringer every five minutes for the attendees to rotate to the next conversation. Two years ago, a “star” component was added to introduce mentoring aside the speed networking. This year, the theme was Pakistani Millennials and acknowledged Millennials who have founded innovative businesses, made names for themselves in cut-throat industries and are true trailblazers.
Event partners included Qatar Airways (Travel), PC Karachi (Food), Nestle Pakistan (Beverage), Depilex (Beauty), Masarrat Misbah Makeup (Makeup), Diva by Sana Rashid (Dress), The Karachi Candle Company (Decor) and the supporters were Aesthetic Life, Asian Institute of Fashion Design, Scentsation, Heavenly Regalia by Nazneen Tariq Khan, Bombay Sweets, U & I by Aneesa Unus and CAMs College. News Desk
Published on BizToday
Dawood Global Foundation hosts LADIESFUND Millennial Masterclass 2018
Farhat Rasheed was born with Cerebral Palsy, a disease that has left her bound to a wheelchair and allows very limited movement of the limbs. Instead of bowing under the pressure of such intense physical limitations, Farhat has proven time and again that the human spirit is capable of rising above all obstacles. She has excelled in every field she chose to pursue. Obtaining a Gold Medal in MBA, working as Brand Manager at one of the most prestigious multinationals in Pakistan, heading Marketing and Operations at the Westbury Group of Companies, and creating the SYC platform that works for making Pakistan wheelchair accessible; Farhat has shone brightly in each role. “The attitude in Pakistan towards people in wheelchairs is that they cannot do anything,” laments Farhat. “Special children are not disabled; they are differently abled. They bring their own unique flavor to work. People think that they won’t be able to deliver at work or they won’t be able to take normal school classes but that is not true.”
Farhat feels very strongly about accessibility. “Restaurants, universities, schools, cinemas, wherever you go there are no arrangements made for wheelchairs. Has anyone seen a wheelchair sign anywhere to indicate that there is arrangement for physically handicapped people? Why should I be carried around by others? I only go to places where I am able to move around myself because it is a basic human right. I don’t need to be dependent on the sympathy of someone else.” Farhat believes that people are not aware about the numbers affected by this issue. The reason we don’t see people in wheelchairs is not that there are very few of them, but because they are trapped in their homes. Farhat narrates the story of a women she met who had a son with leg braces. The child had no cognitive disabilities but no schools were giving admission to him because it would have meant making special arrangements for the child and doing anything extra is considered a hassle. At the behest of Farhat, the child’s therapist went to a school herself to fight the case for the child and eventually he got admission. Stories like these re around us everywhere but people are only willing to give their sympathy, not their support.
After education, Farhat believes that employers have a huge role to play in the life of physically handicapped people. “I was fortunate enough to get into Unilever which was my dream. The good thing was that people treated me like anyone else. If I had to travel for work I travelled, there were no excuses. It made me more confident. My teams were supportive of the fact that I had to leave early for daily physiotherapy. So there was support for my problems but no discrimination when it came to merit.”
Farhat talks about her mother and how it would have been easier to hire two maids instead than invest extra time to care for her special child. “She was the one who was up at nights. There was not a single day when she didn’t drop me to school herself. She gave me the most attention out of all my siblings. Even today there are times when I get low but she gives me the courage to keep going.” For Farhat, her mother is the Miracle Woman. When Farhat couldn’t participate in outdoor activities during P.E. period, her mother would drives Farhat’s wheelchair around, pushing it from behind to make her feel like she is outside in the sun playing just like the other children.
Farhat’s Miracle moment was definitely getting into Unilever, especially after her university career office kept telling her to come and work for IoBM in admin as it would be extremely difficult for her to get a job with her condition elsewhere. “In other interviews I was told I wasn’t compatible for the jobs because I couldn’t travel on trains or couldn’t relocate to other cities considering my ongoing treatments. Unilever was open about letting me make my own path. Pakistan needs more companies like this.”
Farhat is a true inspiration to everyone. Not just people who are physically handicapped but any woman who is struggling with obstacles in life. We need to look up to women like Farhat who aren’t afraid of fighting for their own rights and are confident enough to raise their voice when society is shushing them down. Her life and her ongoing journey are everyday miracles that need to be celebrated.
Published on Pond’s Miracle Women
KARACHI: Women’s Day was celebrated a little early at TDF Ghar on Saturday as some very courageous and determined women stepped forward to share their stories of how they are playing their role in society to ensure the future for girls here is fair, safe and bright.
There was a mother working on removing stigmas and educating people on how to behave around special persons, a youth with cerebral palsy is leading a normal life with a successful career, another young woman in a wheelchair has not let muscular dystrophy come in her way of completing her education and finding a caring and supporting life partner, yet another young woman carries on her work of breaking stereotypes as she follows her heart and achieves her dreams and a group of girls join hands as girls guides to help and inspire others.
Thanks to her talks at various forums and awareness work on social media, Rabia Aziz is now better known as ‘Aaliya’s mother’. Having already given birth to a boy Rabia longed to have a daughter some day but when five years ago that day finally came they were told that their baby girl was not ‘normal’. She was born with a genetic disorder known as Apert’s Syndrome with and oddly shaped skull, no fingers and fused toes. Still thanks to Rabia’s determination Aaliya at five today is doing what doctors had never given them hope for. She has undergone 13 surgeries so far and there may be more to come. But Rabia said that she will do all that she can for her little girl.
Still, the mother feels terrible when people stare at Aaliya, who can walk now and is quite a happy and confident child. “But I will not hide my daughter from the world because it is not her fault that she has Apert’s Syndrome,” said Rabia. “We at home have our own standard of ‘normal’ for Aaliya. She is ‘normal’ for us the way she is,” she added.
“So I have started my own drive called Special Needs Pakistan where I teach others especially children how to interact with differently-abled children persons. Instead of staring we teach them to smile if they have nothing else to say to anyone they may come across who might be different. We also help other parents of special children by guiding them on how to care for and build confidence in their children,” she said.
Farhat Rasheed, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was nine months old, said that her family had an aim to help her lead a normal life. “Everyone in this world is faced with one issue or the other whether it is physical, emotional or financial. Mine was physical and I was taught how to live with it by first identifying it and then accepting it before moving ahead positively,” she said. Getting an education took her to places which were not her first choices but they at the time were the only ones who were supportive of her needs and had ramps and lifts to allow her easy access to her classes, etc.
Today, Farhat is an advocate for others in wheelchairs. Though Show You Care or SYC she and her team explain to others why ramps are important at public places. “When they say that people like us don’t go to restaurants and the movies anyway and that ramps would be a waste of space, we tell them to think about why people in wheelchairs can’t go out like others,” she said. “Not just for us, ramps will also be a great help for babies in strollers,” she added.
Next, Madiha Siddiqi who has muscular dystrophy, shared how her parents never let her give up and how her positive outlook on life brings so many gifts her way.
Meanwhile, Rameesha Shahid, Pakistan’s first female kick-boxing trainer, said that she has been trying to do away with stereotypes all her life. “As a child I was known as a tomboy. I wanted to play all the time and there was no game or sport which I had not championed,” she said. “I hail from a family of academicians and doctors. Everyone in my family is highly accomplished but they wondered what I’d do with my life,” she shared. But today, Rameesha, too, has made her family very proud of her by just following her dreams and doing and excelling at things women in our society don’t normally take up.
Finally, several young women of the Pakistan Girls Guide Association spoke about their work in spreading awareness about various things and helping others help themselves.
Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2018
Atlas Battery selected 12 differently abled heroes & launched a campaign for 2018, “Sparkistan”. Farhat Rasheed was selected as one of them!
Farhat Rasheed gets mentioned in The News “Women Power” Nominees 2017 = Honourable Mentions
