Freshteh Amraei is a teacher who is suffering from physical disability. In an interview with Peyk-e Tavana, she argues that life, with its unconstrained boundaries, is a blessing from the almighty God. Freshteh emphasizes that, during her childhood, she was interested in being a writer, but she was destined to become a teacher and allocate her life to children. She introduces herself very briefly: “I was born in the city of Nahavand in Hamadan Province.  When I was 7 months old, due to high fever, I was afflicted with polio as a result of which I became a disabled person unable to walk. I was taken to Tehran hospitals and I underwent a couple of surgery operations on my feet. Those operations were relatively useful, but my left leg had been seriously hurt as a result of which I had to use walking sticks since I was 5 years old.

During my education at school and university, I was greatly self-confident. Therefore, nobody looked upon me sympathetically. I am so much indebted to my family who, through their upbringing, helped me to be a powerful person and developed the feeling of self-confidence in me.

When I was a primary school student, the school headmaster told my father that according to the Education Department’s order, he is required to take her daughter to special schools for disabled children and register her in that kind of school. He was forced to do this and took me to one such school. I was registered in a special school, but I could not tolerate there for more than 3 or 4 hours. After a couple of hours, one of the school officials told me that you should not come to this school. I was very happy upon my return to the previous school and I remembered that my teacher and the school headmaster were quite happy of seeing me and even they burst to tears.

During my education years, I was always determined to refrain from seclusion. Therefore, I had established friendly and good relations with my classmates and I had numerous friends. I received my high school diploma in 1992. In the same year, I was accepted in the Azad University of Borojerd and four years later received my BA in the Persian Literature. During my years of study at university, I had no major problem except climbing the stairs. After graduation from university, I did my best in order to find a job which is proper to my physical condition in Nahavand.  I could not find a job for 2 years and I had to tolerate such a condition of unemployment. Finally, I read an advertisement which pointed out that the Education Office of Nahavand needed to employ some teachers. I was interviewed and then accepted as a teacher for one of the villages of Nahavand.

Up to this stage, there was no particular problem. When I realized that I am supposed to attend a class as a teacher, however, I was overwhelmed with extreme anxiety and stress. The more I thought about this issue, the more my anxiety and stress increased. Finally, I made my last decision and become determined to work as a teacher. Therefore, I went to that village.

In the same day I went to a primary school to teach Grade 1 students. My encounter with students in the class was the climax of anxieties and stresses. However, this feeling did not last more than half an hour. The students were so friendly that my anxiety disappeared totally.

In the same year, I became the teacher of the students of Grade 4, because their teacher could not attend the class due to the heart disease. I was a primary school teacher for 2 years and, afterwards, I was dispatched to a guidance school to teach the students there. That village was a remote one and I had to go there by omnibuses. It was difficult for me to get in and out of the omnibuses, but my love for the job helped me to tolerate all of these difficulties.

Students used to call me Miss Feresheth. During all my years of teaching, I did not witness any improper behavior from my students. All were kind to me. Of course, they sometimes, due to their childish curiosity, asked me about my physical disability. “Dear teacher! How did you break your leg?” they asked me and I never lied to them, because I knew that lying to the children has a totally negative effect on their upbringing. I told them that my walking sticks are my second heart. I explained to them that my foot has not broken; rather, I have become disabled due to a problem occurred during my childhood. I told them that I have to walk by these walking sticks all my life.

During these years, I realized that people’s curious and inquisitive looks at disabled individuals is always rooted in the very isolationist behavior of those disabled individuals. If they involve themselves in the society since childhood and work along other members of the society, people will look at them as totally ordinary individuals. During 1990s, a traditional outlook toward the disabled people was prevalent in small towns and cities. As a result, the majority of disabled individuals were worried about getting involved in the society. They had a low profile in the society and they could not experience any development. Nowadays, disabled people have a better condition, but this condition is very far from the optimal and ideal condition.

During my teaching years, I could manage my classes very properly and, despite my friendly relation with students, I observed a very special order in my classes. My students and I had a very friendly relation with each other. When I was in the class, my students never spoke loudly. Village children are honest and friendly and they have sincere and delicate feelings. I am always telling myself that working with these children is a blessing bestowed to me by the almighty God.

At the end of each education year, as a teaching methodology, I asked my students to write down their opinions about me. The majority of expressed opinions were positive. Once one of my students wrote his opinion as follows: “Miss Fereshteh! We are appreciating you for taking the trouble and teaching us despite your broken leg. My uncle had once broken his leg, but after 2 or 3 months, his leg was good again. However, your leg is not ok yet.”

I spent 5 or 6 years as a teacher in different villages of Nahavand in Hamadan Province. Afterwards, I was supposed to be employed in the Department of Education of the Hamadan Province as an officially employed teacher. Therefore, I had to refer to a medical center to be tested there. The day I went there, I was accompanied by 3 other disabled teachers, 2 gentlemen and a lady. One of the officials of the Department of Education of Hamadan Province was present in the medical center and told us: “It is not so appealing a scene for students to see you with these walking sticks in the class. In addition, these walking sticks divert the students’ attention from their class and their lessons. Therefore, you are not qualified and capable of teaching.” Then he picked up the phone and called the concerned doctor. “These individuals who are coming to your office are not capable of teaching,” he told the doctor via the phone. Very simply, we were described as disqualified for teaching without being visited by the doctor. The doctor told me;’ Miss Amraei! I cannot introduce you as a disqualified person for teaching. I cannot trace any defect or shortcoming for assuming this position. You speak well and you are highly self-confident. In my opinion, you are qualified to be a teacher. However, since I have been ordered by high-ranking officials, I can just write that you can be employed for teaching jobs that can be done while sitting,” the doctor said. He wrote the same thing for the other 3 disabled individuals who were accompanying me. Then, the head of the administrations affairs of the Department of Education of Hamadan told us: “Based on this letter, you cannot teach in schools.” I told them: “What is the relevance of this letter? Our capability has been proved during these 5 to 6 years.”

The authorities told us that we cannot be employed as teachers and we are only allowed to be employed as administrative staff of the Education Department. I had no chance. I told myself that my real purpose is to provide some services to my society. Therefore, I accepted their proposal. I worked as a librarian in a high school in Nahavand. During the years that I was a teacher, my colleagues were used to tell me that they received energy when they witnessed my energetic performance in my classes. During those years, I was greatly infatuated with the innocent world of my little students and their naughtiness. I was really happy when I was spending time with them. Nothing satisfied me like teaching to these naughty but innocent children. For a teacher, his or her students are everything that he or she has. I was deeply annoyed when they separated me from my students. It was a disappointing incident. However, I managed to revive myself after a while. In order to make the future, I returned to the past. I remembered that during my childhood I never wanted to be a teacher; rather, I wanted to be a writer or a psychologist. However, I had never been provided with an opportunity to try these two domains. Currently, most of my studies are concentrated on psychology.

Sometimes ago, I participated in a seminar. My psychology professor suddenly invited me to the stage and told me to go to the microphone. There was a large crowd in that seminar. Addressing the crowd, my professor said: “This lady had been afflicted by polio during her childhood, but she is a very energetic person.” He urged me to say a few words to the audience. At first, I was terribly shocked, because I had never addressed such a large crowd. I introduced myself very easily and talked about a book entitled Life without Limits written by Nick Vujicic.  Addressing the participants of the seminar, I said that this author writes about himself as follows: “I was born while I had no hands and feet. However, I was never confined myself within the constraints of my physical condition. I travel around the world and inspire millions of people so that they can tackle with the hardships of life through their belief, hope, love, and valour. I inspire these people to materialize their wishes. I believe that my life is not confined within some borders. I wish you, too, nurture such a feeling, regardless of life’s hardships. We are fellow-travellers. At the beginning of our journey, wait for a moment, please, and think about all the constraints that you have imposed to your own life or you have allowed others to impose them on you. At this moment think about the good feeling that you can obtain setting yourself free from all these constraints. How would have been your life, if everything had been possible for you?”

I wish to become a psychologist one day. Every morning I beseech the almighty God to have me get acquainted with good people and help me encounter such individuals. As a disabled person, I expect people not to make judgements about others based on appearances. One of my friends once told me: “In my opinion, disabled people are individuals selected by the almighty God and when we make friends with them, we actually made friends with the almighty God’s selected people.”