Rony Miah

How do you express your love for your mother?

For 19-year-old Rony, it is by designing and stitching clothes for his mother.

As a child, Rony spent his time creating things. There was no school that would admit him; he was born with speech and hearing disabilities. “My son’s disability could not take away his creativity or his passion to do new things,” his mother says.

“He would drape sarees on his sisters perfectly, and make lovely henna designs on their palms – they will leave you amazed,” his mother smiles. He was only too eager to join the training on tailoring and began to learn very quickly.

“Rony was so observant from the start, he would notice every movement I made as I worked. He picked up the craft in only three months,” says Nazma Akhter, the trainer and owner of the tailoring shop.

The trainer and apprentice even developed their own way of communicating – Rony understands Nazma’s cues and acts promptly. Nazma adds, “All my customers love him!”

Rony starts his day with big smiles for his customers. Now, in his last month of training, he will be joining as a regular employee in the tailoring shop, doing what he absolutely loves – stitching clothes and making his customers happy.

In partnership with Inclusive Futures, BRAC provides apprenticeship-based training for people with disabilities. The on-the-job apprenticeship model equips young people with the skills that employers need. To date, over 6,000 people with disabilities have received training upon which 93% of them were placed in decent jobs.