No fetters could tie her down

Having no use of any hands since birth and being born in an ultra poor family would probably kill off any aspirations one might have. Not Arifa Akhter though.

The 16-year-old did not sit on the bench like all her fellow SSC examinees did yesterday on the first day of this year's exams. She got on a table and started writing with her right foot.

With a pen between her toes, she started writing on the answer script while the left foot stabilised the paper at the Lalmonirhat Boys' High School exam hall in her district town.

And her handwriting (foot writing rather) is properly neat, which her fellow classmates with two working hands admit.

Mousumi Akhter said Arifa's leg writing is better than that of their hands writings. Arifa is a little slow but her writing is neater, she said.

Daughter of Abdul Ali and Mamtaz Begum of Shahitari in Lalmonirhat, Arifa, a student of humanities group at Fulgachh High School, was happy after the first test yesterday.

She hoped to do even better on her next exam.

“Hand writing is for normal students, leg writing is for me,” said Arifa, adding, “I know how to write well with my right leg, and my left leg always helps.”

She said she had gotten used to doing everything with her legs since childhood.

“As I'm with disability, I get 25 minutes extra time for the tests …,” she said.

Mother Mamtaz said “Arifa always shown interest in studying, and she keeps herself busy for this. I help our daughter during her bathing, eating, and dressing up, but she does the rest herself.”

Arifa's father Abdul Ali, 64, is a labourer with Tk 200 daily wage.

“I had never been able to provide the support she needed for her studies and our daughter never asked for anything. I have been trying my best … ,” he said hoping Arifa would do well in the SSC.

Fifth among her siblings, Arifa is among the top brilliant SSC candidates from her school. She got a GPA-5 in Junior School Certificate (JSC) examinations. While at primary school, she was the best student, said Shahjahan Ali, the headmaster of Fulgach High School.