In your digital story you attribute some of your achievements to your stubbornness ...
Where I grew up there was nothing for a woman like me to do. I lived in a small village not far from Karachi. My father was a farmer, I had two over-protective brothers who were very precious about me. I wasn't even allowed to do the housework and even though there was a school opposite the house my father forbade me from being educated ...
So what changed?
One day, around 1966, I woke up from a coma to find my father and one of my brothers were dead. They had been attacked in a feud over the farm. My mother had passed away when I was 14 so I went into the care of my sister in law. My surviving brother thought this best and everyone agreed I should be married into a family settled in England, so I could prosper.
I think all this gave me the inner determination to right my life.
Why did you decide to tell the story of learning to read and write in English through this Digital Storytelling workshop?
Learning is what has given me control over my own life. I want to motivate other women to do this. There is a growing Asian community in Newport and I want to speak to that community. My own children are doing so well now it's an inspiration as to how education can transform lives.
What do your children do?
My son experienced Pakistan for nine months but he's back here and on his feet now. My oldest daughter has passed her A-Level maths and is now thinking about going to college. My middle daughter works for a good building society - a very good job. I'm proud of them all.
Would you want to work with digital storytelling again?
It was a great experience. Especially using the computers. I found the software absolutely fascinating and I'd love to learn more about it. It shows you that there are no boundaries to our imagination.
