Vision Impairment Course Billed a Success

JEDDAH, 9 April 2007 — A recent course for visually impaired people, which was held at the Ebsar Foundation, helped 58 people that suffer from low vision to develop new hope in life and live fuller lives.

Muhammad Bellow, Ebsar’s executive director, announced the news, adding that a total of 32 men and 26 women partook in the course.

“The program was successful as four people found jobs ... and 10 people who were threatened with losing their jobs are now keeping their jobs. All attendees became very confident and independent and look positively toward life,” he said.

The course, entitled “International Computer Driving License” (ICDL), was delivered in conjunction with the New Horizons Learning Center. Attendees were also given an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the English language. Ebsar has further signed another contract with the Savola Group to offer the course again.

Bellow said that the attendees varied between the ages of 18 to 51 and comprised people of various nationalities. “As the first course has successfully been completed, we have presented our recommendations to the Savola Group. We look forward to starting a second course. Hopefully it’ll be offered to 40 people,” sad Bellow. Ebsar and the Savola Group initially agreed to hold the first course in October 2005 at a cost of SR295,040.

Bellow said the purpose of the course was to provide visually impaired people with all the help needed to overcome their disabilities. “Attendees managed to learn how to use various tools to enhance their vision. They also learned how to use computers, surf the Internet and check their e-mails. They also learned how to read Braille,” he said.

Attendees took classes for four hours a day for two to three months depending on the individual. “There were two new things in this course. We offered a vocational training program and gave five people the opportunity to work at Ebsar. We also ran an illiteracy program for visually impaired people who work as muezzins and want to enhance their living standards,” he said.

“We did initially face some difficulties, which were easy to overcome,” said Bellow. “Ebsar arranged a bus to bring attendees to and from the center, we rented additional office space and bought eight new computers,” he added.