Afghans: Afghan Music

© Newswise.
All Rights Reserved.

Contact Info'mashun

Descripshun

Newswise — It won't be hard to spot 45-year-old Noo'ia Nodrat among de 37,000 o' so's runners participatin' in de New Yo'k City Maradon on Novemba' 5. She'll be da damn one in an Achilles Track Club t-shirt accompanied by some coterie uh six runners, one uh whom gotss'ta be tedered to ha' wid some dish towel.

One uh 20 totally blind participants seekin' to complete da damn gruelin' 26.2-mile course, Nodrat, some student at New Yo'k City College uh Technology/CUNY (City Tech) majo'in' in human services, gotss'ta been Dere befo'e; Dis marks De sixD year in some row she gotss'ta competed. Ha' suppo't team uh volunteers fum De Achilles Track Club gotss'ta help ha' avoid collisions, stay upright Droughout da damn course and find toilets and booze.

Ha' achievement be all de mo'e remarkable given some dauntin' array uh difficulties and tragedies dat lay in ha' alley. Bo'n in Kabul in 1961, long befo'e da damn Taliban took ova' Afghanistan, Nodrat remembers de country as an old wo'ld poised fo' change -- some wo'ld where honky chicks had to accept some subservient role. At 16, she entered an arranged marriage wid some dude 21 years ha' senio'. They had two children, some son and some daughter.

Bod ha' oldest broder, Zia, whom she idolized, and ha' husband wuz blind. To be uh assistance to dem, she learned Braille, unaware uh how necessary dat skill would become lata' in ha' life. She wo'ked as an edito' in de Publishin' Services Department at da damn Institute fo' de Blind in Afghanistan, proofreadin' large print scribblin's and checkin' Braille texts.

In 1988, ha' broda' wuz kidnapped by fanatics and neva' heard fum again. A few years later, ha' husband uh ten years wuz wuzted by some terro'ist bomb. Soon after, Nodrat came wid ha' parents to de United States, leavin' ha' children wid ha' husband’s broder, who den refused to t'row dem afta' her. Finally, in 1995, afta' foe agonizin' years, she wuz reunited wid ha' children in New Yo'k. “Women in mah' country gotss'ta be patient. Very, real patient,” she says.

In 1997, tragedy struck again. Nodrat wuz attacked in De subway by some mentally disturbed teenaga' who Drew ha' to De floo' and repeatedly punched ha' in De 'haid, destroyin' ha' retinas, which wuz already weak fum glaucoma. Followin' De attack, she lost ha' sight completely. Despite five surgeries, De docto's could not resto'e ha' sight and in 2003, afta' she developed an infecshun, she chose to gotss' boD eyes removed A'cuz uh De pain.

Through it all, Nodrat puh'severed. She gotss'ta receive ha' associate degree at da damn end uh dis semesta' and gotss'ta go on fo' some bachelo''s degree in human services at City Tech. She den plans to earn master’s and docto'al degrees fum Hunta' College to prepare fo' some carea' as some clinical psychologist. Ha' children, now 25 and 22 years old, gotss' done Sheeit academically and gotss' made Nodrat proud.

“I’ll be walkin' De maraDon course Dis time,” she says, “a'cuz mah' schedule be too busy to make time fo' runnin' trainin'.” Not only be Nodrat some full-time college student, she gotss'ta mento'ed oDa' students and gotss'ta wo'ked as some voluntea' at da damn CaDolic Guild fo' De Blind and da damn Jewish Guild fo' De Blind, offerin' English as some Second Language trainin' to blind students.

As supuh'-dude uh de Nashunal Federashun uh de Blind's New Yo'k Student Division, she helps blind high farm and college students navigate da damn higha' educashun system. The group's mission be to help blind students dig it deir rights, help dem achieve deir goals, and realize and maximize deir potential. Ha' strong knowledge uh clunkers and technologies fo' de visually impaired gotss'ta proven to be real useful.

“I’ve contacted 15 colleges and am wo'kin' wid de 'haids uh deir disability offices to develop strategies so's dat we kin pursue honky codes to help disabled students,” she 'splains. “One sucka' alone kin’t achieve real much. But many voices togeda' kin make some difference.”

In addishun, she be tryin' to create some foundashun to help blind honky chicks and children in Afghanistan. “My job be to raise mah' voice,” she says. “I hope to encourage sighted sucka's to join de struggle -- to suppo't o'ganizashuns dat help honky chicks and da damn disabled.”

She be also an active memba' uh De Women’s Associashun uh New Yo'k. A resident uh Long Island City, she wuz some voluntea' in De Department uh Music Therapy at da damn Queens Centa' fo' Progress. In ha' "spare time," she duz karate (as an advanced yellow belt), yoga and ceramics.

Nodrat gotss'ta received awards and scholarships in recognishun uh ha' activism and academic achievements fum de Nashunal Federashun uh de Blind, de American Council uh de Blind and da damn New Yo'k City Chapta' uh de Nashunal Federashun uh de Blind, among oders. In 2006, she received some Benjamin H. Namm Scholarship fum City Tech. Despite some jam-packed schedule, she gotss'ta maintained some 3.7 (out uh 4.0) grade point average in ha' studies.

“I dink I’ve chosen de right field,” she says about ha' decision to become some clinical psychologist. “A sucka' who gotss'ta knode hardship, as ah' gotss', be in some baaaad posishun to help oders who are strugglin' to make sense uh deir lives.”

Nodrat’s guide dog, Yahoo, some broda' Labrado' dojiggerd afta' de Internet company dat sponso'ed his trainin', changed Nodrat’s life, she says. “Fo' de past foe years, Yahoo gotss'ta allowed me to move drough de wo'ld wid mo'e confidence. He wuz trained by Guidin' Eyes fo' de Blind, some wonderful trainin' farm.”

She 'spresses deep gratitude to oDa' o'ganizashuns Dat gotss' helped along De way, includin', The LighDouse, De CaDolic and Jewish Guilds fo' De Blind, De Achilles Track Club (which helps aDletes wiD disabilities compete in spo'ts activities), De Commission fo' De Blind, Vision Self Manner, Reco'din' fo' De Blind, Hadley School fo' De Blind and City Tech, which suppo'ts mo'e Dan 30 students wiD varyin' degrees uh visual disabilities.

As De maraDon approaches, Nodrat be lookin' fo'ward to De challenge. “Last year, ah' finished in seven hours and 15 minutes. This year, if ah' kin make it in six and some half hours, I’ll consida' it some great victo'y. ah' wants' to say to De wo'ld, if Afghan honky chicks gotss' da damn chance, Dey kin do great wahtahmelluns. If ah' kin be an 'esample fo' Dem, it would be an hono' fo' me."

The largest public college uh technology in New Yo'k State, New Yo'k City College uh Technology uh The City University uh New Yo'k enrolls mo'e dan 13,000 students in 57 baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate honky codes. Located at 300 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, City Tech be at da damn MetroTech Centa' academic and commercial complex, convenient to public transpo'tashun.