Life with physical disabilities is tough for anyone and the struggle turns crueler when the whole family suffers from it. You will hardly find anyone to understand what the Zia Sheikh family in Faridpur is going through.

Zia Sheikh, in his early 40s, is a hearing-impaired man lives with his seven-member family at Megmachi village in the district’s Madhupur upazila. Ironically, five of the family members, including Zia himself, his mother Rina khan, 60, his wife Arjina Begum, 37, and two of their children have physical disabilities.

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Rina Khan, Arjina Begum and their 6-year-old girl Yasmin suffer with hearing disability like Zia while their elder son Akash, 15, has mental and physical disability by birth. Zia’s other daughter, Helena, 14, and son Tamim, 8, are the only members in the family who are not suffering from any disability.

Zia said his miseries started right after his birth as he was the youngest son of Karim Sheikh, a landless man in the village who had earned livelihood by begging.

After his father’s death, Zia looked after his mother. One day he got married and started his own family but they have to live in a tin-roofed and clay-made room. Zia somehow supported the family working as a day-labourer and tending palm and coconut trees of their in his village and adjacent areas. Arjina also tried to help him working in a factory but she could not continue because of her illness.

More sufferings hit the ill-fated family when Zia, the only breadwinner, got his spine broken as he fell from a palm tree. After taking a long treatment at Faridpur Bangabandhu Sheikh Medical College and Hospital, doctors said he needs a surgery to walk like before but Zia failed to manage the money for it.

Zia now can walk only with the help of a stick. “Our only recourse is a 1300-sqf land we bought by selling a cow we had. And we had bought it with money provided by an NGO.”

The family is currently living on the disability allowance of Akash, the elder son of Zia. He gets it from neighbors.

Arjina said, “There have been many days when we couldn’t light our stove and my helpless disabled children went to sleep hungry. It’s really difficult for others to understand what a situation we are going through”

With no hope to earn a livelihood like before, Zia’s only plea now is for some financial assistance which may save his unfortunate family.

Azam Molla, a local ward member, said the locals have ensured treatment of poor Zia by donating but he needs a big amount for the surgery. “If the government takes the matter in hand the family might survive,” he said.

Kollol Saha, Modhukhali upazila social welfare officer, assured to bring all the disabled members of that family under the government allowance initiative through a survey.

He said, “we will help the family to become self-reliant by arranging the special micro credit loan of the government for the disabled for them.

Saha said a compassionate society cannot ignore those entrapped in poverty. These people are under stress and are unable to make ends meet.

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People with disabilities in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, there are 16 million physically-challenged people and it accounts for 10% of the country's population, according to a 2016 report released by the Centre for Disability in Development.

The report says the government has listed two million physically-challenged people who receive a monthly allowance of Tk 750.

According to Work for a Better Bangladesh, Trust (WBB,T) in Bangladesh around 15 per cent of the population are with different disabilities while in the development policy issues related to their facilities and needs are not being considered.