Nazim Bhimani - Bridging the gap between the Hearing and Dea

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Nazim Bhimani - Bridging the gap between the Hearing and Deaf world
Posted: 03 Mar 2008 10:10 AM CST


Nazim volunteers in the neighbourhood shovelling driveways, acts as a Big Brother at his mosque and raised more than $6,000 for the Aga Khan Foundation’s annual Partnership Walk for global poverty.

A heart warming story from Toronto Sun.

14 years ago a mother decided her premature baby ‘was special from the day he was born’ and that love has paid off
Mon, March 3, 2008
By MICHELE MANDEL
When her son was born 14 years ago, they told her to let him die.
Nine weeks premature, he weighed just one pound, and would need endless operations. They said he would never walk or talk or hear.
“The kindest thing to do would be to turn the machines off,” the doctors told her.
But as she watched her little boy attached to a spiderweb of ventilator tubes, Shelu Bhimani refused to listen to any of them. “I wouldn’t let them give up,” she says. “I knew he was special from the day he was born.”
How right she was.
Her son Nazim is a walking, talking, rap-writing Grade 9 prep powerhouse at E.C. Drury School for the Deaf in Milton, who delivers 110 copies of the Sunday Sun every weekend, volunteers at his mosque and has just been chosen as one of the 12 Ontario Junior Citizens of the Year by the Ontario Community Newspapers Association.
“This community-minded individual is dedicated to bridging the gap between the hearing and deaf world,” the OCNA says in their news release. “Being deaf doesn’t stop him from achieving what he sets out to accomplish.”
Or as his mom notes proudly, “He’s quite some kid.”
Complete at Toronto Sun
When he learned that his class didn’t have enough funding to go on their Grade 8 trip to Quebec City, Nazim decided to hold a deaf awareness day at his local mall and wrote one of his rap poems to gather donations. “I am deaf, with opinions and feelings just like you/ If you think we are any different, then shame on you,” the poem ends.
RAISED OVER $3GS
“I am deaf and I know who I am/ Damn straight so will you/ I respect me and I accept me/ So when will you?”
He raised more than $3,000 to add to the amount earned by the school, which allowed the entire class to participate in the trip.
Under the name “Deaf 1 Naz,” Nazim writes and recites his own rap poetry about poverty, peace, deafness and family, all with an undercurrent of humour and sass. Of his half-blind white German shepherd, Kaya, he writes: “Her beauty takes my breath away/ She loves me unconditionally/ She takes care of me and protects me willingly/ She’s my ears and I’m her eyes/ So fresh, so young and so very wise, and I love her.”
Only to conclude later, “Know your place/ You’re my doggie, not my wifey/ So stop licking my face/ And give me some friggin’ space!!”
He volunteers in the neighbourhood shovelling driveways, acts as a Big Brother at his mosque and raised more than $6,000 for the Aga Khan Foundation’s annual Partnership Walk for global poverty.
He was chosen from among 120 kids nominated across Ontario. “These young people are our leaders of tomorrow,” says OCNA president Rick Shaver. “They exemplify the traits we all aspire to and have the ability to inspire and motivate those around them.”
LOFTY GOALS
Nazim is overwhelmed by his Junior Citizen award, which will be presented March 17. “This is a lot of fuss for nothing, cuz I didn’t do nothing much,” he insists shyly.
“When I go to the ceremony I will feel very honoured and nervous; I will also feel like I have butterflies in my stomach!” he says. “Really, I didn’t expect it to happen but I feel very good for what I’ve done with the community and I assume God is very proud of my work.”
For someone so young, Na-zim has lofty goals: he wants to be a “positive” rapper, establish a children’s home in Africa, and promote understanding between the deaf and the hearing.
“The people who can hear think that the deaf people are dumb, but we are not. The only problem about us is we can’t hear, that’s all, we are normal like you.
“The hearing people speak with their mouth; however, the deaf people speak with their hands, so there is no big deal.”
It angers him when he’s treated differently because of his disability. “When it comes to me they speak with their words very slow and stretched out, they don’t talk normal but in a different way of treating me like I’m stupid. I do not tolerate it at all. I would like them to treat me with respect.”
This special young man has certainly earned it. “He’s just a really good kid,” his mom says.
But then she knew that as soon as she saw her tiny infant fighting for life. How lucky we are that she ignored all those who told her to let him go.

[toronto_ismaili]

I've met him before, great kid. When I met the family they seemed very dedicated to raisng as much money as possible for the Partnership Walk, it really was heart-warming.