Like many other young artists her age, 16-year-old Robaba Mohammadi dreams of holding international art exhibitions.
The only difference — she draws not with her fingers but with her mouth.
She was born with partial paralysis of her limbs and is unable to control her hands and feet except for a few toes.
Mohammadi came from a poor family in Ghazni province who moved to Kabul when she was three after they realised her disability. They hoped to get medical help for her condition, to no avail.
Less than two years ago, she started drawing and now she dreams of holding her art exhibition at Aga Khan Museum in Canada.
“My dream is to hold my art exhibition in Aga Khan Museum which is one of the biggest museums in Canada. And I’m requesting my people to help me in order to reach my dream which is having my art exhibition in Canada,” Mohammadi said.
She said, she also dreams of one day going to school to acquire knowledge.
“Robaba doesn’t have hands for drawing but God has granted her the ability to draw with her mouth. She is doing a very impossible task and before, we didn’t think she could do it. Now, we are hopeful she can improve a lot in her career,” Robaba’s sister Shakila Mohammadi said.
Decades of conflict, poverty and neglect prevents many disabled Afghans from reaching their goals. They are often unemployed and face discrimination in a society where disability is perceived as a weakness.
Despite this, Robaba Mohammadi said she hopes her art will provide a different picture of Afghanistan which has struggled with decades of conflict and war.
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