Meet Nika Tath, the founder of Nika’s Seeing Hands Massage Therapy Center. Nika is a member of Women Peace Makers, an Empowerment grantee in Cambodia that is spearheading the 4 Women, 4 Communities, 4 Stories journey. Here is a snippet of the project.

Nika is a remarkably resilient and resourceful woman. Growing up as the youngest child, Nika lost her eyesight as a result of measles before reaching the age of one. In spite of such a barrier, she has become a social enterprise pioneer and a leader for the blind community! Over the years she has traveled the globe sharing her skills and experience with blind and visually impaired people, particularly in post-conflict contexts like South Sudan and Myanmar. She dedicates herself to capacity strengthening and fostering more opportunities for blind people worldwide. More recently, Nika decided to establish an NGO to train more visually impaired people in massage therapy in Cambodia.

“I want to show everyone that people with disabilities also want to live like everyone else. People always ask me why I want to be beautiful, go to the market to buy clothes or dress like those without disabilities. I want to tell everyone that I want to have nice clothes too and to take care of my own needs”.

Nika

Nika cannot stress enough the need for people to change their own stereotypes. “I dream all of us are given the opportunity for employment, social engagement, and communication. I want everyone to value and recognise our abilities even more than our disabilities”.