For years, most women with disabilities have lost the opportunity to integrate into the Lebanese society. When they apply for jobs, no one is interested in exploring their real capacities in working and being productive. Moreover, they are often subjected to prejudice, as indicated by one of the workers in the kitchen, based on their disability, which requires them to perform fewer tasks and be paid a lower salary compared to other workers.

While looking at her old journal, Jinan realizes the improvement in her handwriting. She is also conscious that the letters and words are windows to the soul as well as to distant horizons. She believes they can transport you to places where the soul and the mind connect. The young woman suffers from reduced mobility resulting from cerebral palsy since birth.

I was always invited to audition for acting in soap operas and films in Lebanon. However, once the directors noticed my leg and the device that I use, they would become evasive. I have one leg shorter than the other as I was born with a condition called “Limb Length Discrepancy”. Two years ago, I started suffering from osteoporosis, and became unable to use the device, thus, I started using a wheelchair.  

I thought marriage would save me from my family, especially from my brother, who denied me my right to study, work, and communicate with the outside world, because I am a girl, and in his opinion, girls should stay home. Every time I revolted against his approach, he would beat me up. 

I was born with a motor disability, my mother took complete care of me and protected from the outside world, to a point I became isolated. When my mother died, I found myself deprived from her help and unable to integrate into a society with a patriarchal mindset. I tried living my life my way, despite all the obstacles hindering me, including physical violence.