Hana’a turns her scrabbles into literature

Fearless and shameless , Hana’a set on her wheelchair in the midst of her disabled colleagues to receive a training on literary writing and short stories. This training is part of the project “ Effective Writers “ , implemented by SDF and funded by the European Union “SouthMed Program”.

Hana’a Masalma from Ramallah in the West Bank, suffers from a physical disabilities that left her on a wheelchair .She’s fond of writing and tries to write she describes as “Scrabbles.”

A friend of Hana’a has sent her an advertisement published by “Effective Writers” stating that the project is seeking trainees with disabilities . Her friend urged her to apply and benefit from this valuable opportunity to improve her writing skills . And so did Hana’a .

After a while, she has been notifies that she’s part of the project along with other 29 trainees . She was very excited , thrilled, and hopeful . She says, “I’ve been part of the training and I was joyful, especially that it was my first time to meet with authors in person . I also had a lot of fun with my fellow colleagues.”

Miss Masalma sees that such projects change the community’s perspective of persons with disabilities , as they bring to the surface their talents and abilities to write literary texts and short stories . It spreads awareness within the society and asserts that persons with disabilities can leave their houses and practice living just like everybody else.

She also puts emphasis on the importance of projects that focus on developing and improving the skills of persons with disabilities. She adds that “Effective Writers” and similar projects are of great importance to her because they build up both personal and academic skills . Additionally,  they positively influence of those people’s lives since they’re mainly limited to their homes or bedrooms; such projects stimulate their abilities and thinking.

Hana’a sees that “Effective writers “ has impacted her life in so many ways. On the practical level, she has gained more knowledge on the structure , format, and genres of literary works and managed to classify her own “scrabbles” into one , NOVEL.” On the personal level “, she continues , “I have discovered my own strength and learned the importance of I write and the need to write it with no fear or shame.” She now publishes her writings with a sense of pride and bravery . Networking and interacting with other people like her made her stronger and happier.

Hana’a has received her training on the hands of qualified trainers . At the end of the project , she published her writings and felt prouder of herself as a talented writer. In the end she says, “ it’s hard to determine which road I’m taking now ,but I know for sure that I’m going towards the best.”