Qatar's first disabled model

When Nawaal Akram was growing up in Qatar, she was bullied for the way she walked. She has muscular dystrophy which is a condition that gradually causes the muscles to weaken. She ended up using a wheelchair when she was 12 and had to leave school. Her difficult childhood led to depression, but eventually she found a way out of it by becoming a stand up comedian and a model. She tells Outlook's Shaimaa Khalil her story.

Image: Nawaal Akram

Credit: Maria Ovsyannikova