Afghan refugee boy reaches out to his community through YouTube

By Vinamrata Takia New Delhi [India], Nov.17 (ANI): A young Afghani boy, Ferdaws, always dreamt of becoming an engineer, but little did he know that life had different plans for him. The prolonged conflict in Afghanistan forced Ferdaws and his family to flee their country and take refuge in India. However, settling down in India had its own share of problems as Ferdaw's family had to deal with financial hardships. A delay in obtaining a refugee card for the family has prevented Ferdaws and his siblings from getting admission in schools. Not one to be bogged down by the tough circumstances, Ferdaws started his Youtube channel a year ago to keep himself busy. Ferdaw's channel caters to Afghan community in India and outside, offering them a way to unwind. "Because of the non-availability of refugee card I didn't get admission in any school. Sitting at home was really hard because when you are not in your home country there is nothing much to do. And at that time there was no job or school, so I decided to indulge myself in social media. Then I made my account on YouTube, the basic idea was to entertain people," informed Ferdaws. Overtime Ferdaws has learnt the nitty-gritty of graphics, video editing, audio and visual techniques from YouTube. He calls YouTube his teacher, which has taught him most of the work. Ferdaws is fluent in English and Hindi but he makes all his videos in Afghani to connect with the people from his homeland. "Most of the Afghans in India don't speak much of Hindi and English, which is why I decided to make videos in my own language to entertain my people first. Most of the Afghans are living as refugees in different countries so there is almost no source of entertainment. This is a small initiative by me to make short funny videos to entertain my people. In future I will make videos in Hindi and English language to cater to a larger audience," said Ferdaws. In today's times social media plays a pivotal role in broadcasting people's voices and its ease of use means anyone can utilize it. Ferdaws wants to use this platform as a medium to spread awareness about his country's problems, social aspects and culture. Ferdaws said "For now I am making funny and entertaining videos but in the future I want to make realistic videos on my culture and society. I want to showcase my country's culture through the forum of social media". Youtube and other social networking sites are just ways for Ferdaws to be creative and express himself. However, lack of access to education and financial constraints continue to cast a shadow on Ferdaws' future. (ANI)