Dubai: Ten little people of UAE came together at Reaching You, an event to showcase talent of the special needs community in Zabeel Park on Saturday.
The oldest 55 and the youngest 3.5 years old, the tallest among them 4ft 7 inches, the tiniest just about 67cm performed with such amazing synergy, giving a memorable rendition of Little People from Les Miserables. Wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a slogan that said, ‘Don’t judge us by our heights” they gave such a spirited performance that the audience couldn’t stop applauding.
Quite literally, the Little People of UAE, the support group comprising people suffering from various forms of dwarfism came together on October 25 last year on the International Day of dwarfism. The brainchild of Zahra Khumri, a computer engineer suffering from achondroplasia, one of the commonest forms of dwarfism, the group has people from different emirates, different age groups and professions.
Totalling about 16 so far — there is a banker, a magician, a dancer, an artist, a teacher, an engineer, a few students, business people and professionals — they stand tall, contributing actively to society but marginalised because of their height and want people to treat them with dignity and without prejudice.
People associate height with knowledge, which is so unfair,” says Zuraiz Rafay, a grade 10 student from Cambridge High School, Abu Dhabi. Rafay suffers from acro coxo mesomelic dysplasia, a rare inherited form of dwarfism, and is the only one in his family to have this condition. His mother, Dr Shaista Siddiqui, a public health specialist, knew about Zuraiz’s condition when she was in the seventh month of her pregnancy and accepted her little boy as a gift from the Almighty. She married her first cousin.
The couple went in for genetic testing but the test ruled out any such anomaly. But the family has been very supportive of Zuraiz who is a very intelligent student and plans to graduate in computer science. “I have a very good buddy system at school and feel no different from other boys. If I do have problem picking up something my friends help me. My friends treat me absolutely on par,” he adds.
Family support and encouragement have also been the cornerstone of the life of three siblings, Faisal, Fariyal and Iqra Shahid. They suffer from another growth disorder called Silver Russell Syndrome. The family’s second daughter, Mariam, who is of normal height and does not have this syndrome, shares a close bond with her other siblings and is always ready to give them a helping hand. Faisal, 23, who completed his grade 12 examinations, now continues his studies through distance education and has joined his father’s electronic business, while Fariyal, 15, and Iqra, 9, continue as students in Dubai.
“My children are unique and so loving and kind that not even once have I thought of them as any less than others. They are independent and are doing well in life in every way. I left no stone unturned to get them treated as there were some health complications they had. I love them very much and am determined to give them all the opportunities I can,” says Fariha Shahid Chaudhary, their mother.
However, Tahir Khatta, 38, and Durai Kannu, 55, did not have strong community support when they were growing up in their villages in Pakistan and India respectively. Tahir, who works as a doorman at a restaurant in Dubai, was born in Rawalpindi to normal parents and had siblings of regular height. There was so much ignorance about his medical condition that he to this day does not know what kind of dwarfism he has. “I was determined not to be left behind in anything and used to walk 4km every day to the government school I studied in. There was a clerk at the post office in my village with a similar condition and he was my hero. I always felt that if this man could complete his studies and make a living so could I. I was a very bright student, used to participate in school debates but I could not continue my studies beyond high school because of practical problems of daily commute. I took up the job of a doorman at a restaurant in Lahore and was recruited from there to Dubai,” says the wiry little man who has to open doors three or four times his size, in a nine-hour duty each day.
Durai Kannu had a rougher life as he had to work in a variety of circuses in India to make a living. He also worked for a supermarket dressing up as a Disney character from where he was recruited for a job here in Dubai 11 years ago. “I work as an interior decorator at a hypermarket and try to be as independent as I can be in my life. My friends help me a lot,” says Durai who has a wife of normal height and a seven-year-old daughter who is also free of any form of dwarfism studying in India.
The tiniest among the group was little Mohammad Hamza, a three-and-a half-year-old child measuring all of 67cms, who suffers from achondroplasia, His parents, Mohammad and Shifa Faisal, who knew about Hamza’s condition during the second trimester of the pregnancy, have an older son Aoun who does not have this condition. “We are dealing with this medical issue for the first time. Being with this group and meeting every week gives us the strength and guidance to cope with the problems that our child is likely to face as he grows up,” says Mohammad.
To connect with little people of the UAE, visit www.facebook.com/groups/littlepeopleofUAE
