Shokria’s Gambit: Turning disability into dexterity

“I am proud of myself that I did not give up and now I am walking toward my dreams with a half-disabled body,” says Shokria, an 18-year-old who struggled for her life and followed her dream of becoming a chess player.

Shokria was just 4 when her two legs and one hand were injured after a hand grenade was thrown into her house. She was an asocial girl because her family treated her with discrimination. “I was a girl with a disability while my family treated me differently,” she says.

One day Shokria watched a TV programme – a chess match. She was inspired.

“I thought to myself that this game [chess] needs my only one hand and my mind,” she says. “I crafted the game on a piece of paper and used stones as chess pieces. Then I started to play it alone. Everyone laughed at me, but that was a miracle for my future.”

In 2015, when Shokria was breaking pistachios at home, the World Vision team reached to out her, “and they asked my family if I can join this centre,” she says. She began to participate in the Street Working Children Enrichment Centre in Herat.

“On my first day, I did not have shoes. I used my hands to support my body’s weight to get around,” she says.

When the teacher asked Shokria about her hobby, she said, “Chess!”

Her journey of learning chess practically started at that time. Nevertheless, the team consulted with Shokria’s family for a positive behaviour change and her education. “It was not easy for me to climb the long stairs, and I was upbraided for a late present in the class,” she says. Shokria recently graduated from high school.

By ignoring the negative words and coping with challenges, Shokria is a technical chess player today and has received awards from local chess competitions. She is one of the players for the Herat Provincial Women’s Chess Team.

“Now, I don’t feel I am a girl with a disability,” she says. “I feel that I am the most fortunate girl in the world. I hope I serve my people, the community and particularly [children who labour] in the future.

“Disability is not incapability, if the support there is a window of hope,” she says.

With strong self-esteem, she advocates for people with disability. “On behalf of people with disabilities, I met a couple of government authorities at the provincial level to share our problems and they address those,” she says.

Shokria has other skills as well. “I do handicraft and embroidery with my one hand to afford all my expenses,” she says.

And if she had a magic wand? “I would use that to go for international chess tournaments with a healthy body,” she says.

“I ask the world leaders to help children rescue from child labour and support them to continue their education. I also ask the families to not discriminate between a child with a disability and a healthy one,” says Shokria.