waqas ahmed

founder: Pace2Life Welfare foundation

53694_10151364648715954_1946213476_o.jpg

Waqas Ahmed is from Lahore, Pakistan and runs an organization called Pace2Life Welfare Foundation.When Waqas was 9 months old he got attacked by Typhoid and caused severe disability. However, this wasn't identified until age 3 when he began to walk. At age 5, Waqas was diagnosed with Celebral Palsy which typically gets worse with age but in his case he improved as he grew up.

His parents and grandfather continued to strive to get him treatment and helped them stay optimistic. Waqas was homeschooled by his parents and grandfather. He had to face harsh treatment and discouragement growing up because people believed he couldn't do anything in his life due to his disability. Eventually he was affected by all the criticism and  gave up on home schooling and instead started spending time with his pets and working on his hobbies.

Life changed when he was introduced to a computer by his friend. He started learning from his friends, even though it was challenging to operate a computer with his hands or feet due to CP. Eventually he got it to work when he tried using it with his nose. Eventually he enrolled in school to learn about computers and got trained professionally. Because Waqas was always creative he started to learn how to draw but it was difficult to hold a pencil in his mouth so he had to abandon his hobby.

Waqas also learned how to do web development and worked as freelancer for four years. Eventually he took some English language courses but quickly realized that he had no formal education. His teacher encouraged him to pursue higher education but he was denied admission because of his disability. Eventually he studied for his matriculation exam and passed as a private student.

Waqas was then accepted to Government College University Lahore, which was his childhood dream. During his first year at GCU he noticed there were no ramps/slopes for disabled students. Waqas and other students who were differently abled, faced a lot of trouble when it came to their mobility. Waqas advocated for ramps to be built and provide other resources for differently abled students. Eventually there were ramps built for every single department at GCU.

Waqas faced a lot of challenges as a college student. He finally contacted media to help spread his story of inspiration. He also wanted to launch a website where he portrayed achievements of inspirational disabled people. He was advised and encouraged to create a NGO so he started Pace2Life Welfare Foundation with his friends.The main purposed to Pace2Life is to encourage disabled people to become an integral part of society by providing health, education, career resources and guidance. Pace2Life also works for natural disaster relief, runs free medical camps, creates awareness of disability rights and other social issues.

WhatsApp Image 2018-02-08 at 7.40.00 AM.jpeg

 

Recently Waqas completed his B.A in Urdu Literature and planning on doing his masters next. Waqas is inspired by many people in his life especially his grandfather (Nana Ji) and his arts teacher, Mehmood Ul Hasan Roomi and Edhi Sahab. He enjoys traveling, photography, reading, collecting coins and poetry.

Waqas is a true Change Maker as he breaks stereotypes and helps people of Pakistan.

To help Pace2Life Welfare- contact them here