People Speak.

Byline: Mohammad Asim

'My family is from Multan. My father used to be a labourer there, and we came to Islamabad three years ago. I have three brothers and three sisters, and I am the oldest among my siblings. None of them are studying; we did not receive an education because our situation at home was not good.

I was born with a physical deformity. We had our own home and property in Multan that my father sold to pay for my treatment. I underwent six months of treatment in Lahore before we came to Islamabad, which helped greatly. My treatment cost around Rs500,000, and after that I was able to walk.

I have been doing this for three years. Before I began selling balloons, I worked as a tailor and as a motorcycle mechanic. My father became partially paralysed five years ago and had to stop working, and I started working instead. My mother also works in people's homes.

We live in a rented one-room house in G-11/3 which costs Rs10,000 a...