Faith and Perserverance

From yesterday's Gulf News:


Girl's true grit beats heavy odds to secure top rank in school

Abu Dhabi: Jordanian student Doa'a Abdul Raouf's joy knows no bounds because she stands top in the science stream in her school and second in the UAE in the General Secondary School Certificate exams.

And the worth of her achievement is doubled by the fact that she is nearly blind.

A student of Abu Dhabi Government High School, Doa'a is ecstatic about her 99.8 average. "I expected that I would get good results, but never that I would come first," she told Gulf News.

"I studied really hard and I thought I would come third or fourth. The physics exam was really tough and I didn't think that I did that well in it."

Nearly in tears, parents of Doa'a recounted the hardship that she had to endure because of her condition.

"Doa'a had to have all her subjects read to her because she could hardly see. Thankfully, God has blessed her with an excellent memory and she could easily memorise all her subjects," said her mother Najah Ruzieh.

Doa'a's classmates used to write down what was on the blackboard and Ruzieh would read them for her when she got home.

"A special committee was established for my daughter to take her exams. Teachers who were at her side during the examinations read the questions to her.

"My daughter has to work a hundred times more than a normal child because of her condition. Glasses can't help and she can barely see using a magnifying glass."

"I wouldn't have been able to do any of it without my mother," Doa'a added.

At the age of eight, Doa'a's parents found out that their daughter suffers from macular dystrophy, a hereditary condition that severely affects eyesight.

Ruzieh is unsure about her daughter's future. "Because of her condition she can't be admitted into any university or take up a normal job. Up till now, we don't know what to do and our choices are limited."