Children struggling with disabilities in Pakistan typically aren’t eligible for health insurance for fear that they will drive up premiums. Umaimah Rasheed, Fulbright Scholar and second-year student in Chicago School’s Master’s in Clinical Psychology, Conseling program, helped develop a solution to this widespread problem in her native country.
Thanks to Umaimah and a team of committed friends and fellow Fulbright scholars, selected schools in Pakistan are rolling out Artpreneurship For Change—an initiative that encourages children with disabilities to express themselves through art therapy. Artwork is then displayed at exhibits to raise awareness and secure donations for a managed health care fund and empower the children and their families.
“Art is one of many avenues for these children to share their personal stories with a world where they go mostly unnoticed,” says Umaimah. “Providing a supportive, safe environment for them is so critical to their emotional and physical health.”
Umaimah was impelled to add a narrative component to the Artpreneurship For Change curriculum after a colloquium at The Chicago School on the influence of narrative therapy with trauma victims.
“I realized it would be very beneficial for these kids to tell their story not just as a means to bring about social awareness, but also as a therapeutic tool, to help them process their own life struggles while empowering them.” she says.
In addition to their artwork, the children are crafting bracelets that symbolize in many ways how instilling a simple skill can bring about change. The bracelets are sold at $5 a piece—enough to insure a child for an entire month.
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