The 30 children, 18 of who are blind and who are all between the age of six and 10, have been drawn from local schools, including schools for the blind.

The visits are part of an annual summer campaign organized by the Ebsar Foundation for the last three years. The six-week campaign — called “Building Hope” — has identified major hospitals, factories, shopping malls, bookstores, retail shops for household goods and readymade garments besides amusement parks.

Mohammad Tawfiq Bellow, founder and general manager of the Jeddah-based Ebsar Foundation, said the idea behind the campaign is to integrate blind children into society and also give them basic information on a variety of subjects.

“Like on Monday when they visited the International Medical Center, they were, besides other activities, briefed on child health-care issues at a lecture room. On Sunday they visited Jarir Bookstore and learned about books. Similarly, in the coming few days they will visit the King Abdulaziz Airport to learn about the use of terminals and travel-related skills,” he said.

Explaining the activities on each visit, Bellow said the children meet members of the general public, and distribute 50 Braille learning tools and publicity materials on the activities of Ebsar and its campaign to support the 15,000 visually-impaired people in Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of distributing Braille is to highlight the importance of education to people who are blind.

At least seven mothers have also volunteered to be part of the campaign. They accompany the children on each visit. Bellow said the best outcome of the campaign is that sighted children are learning to deal with those who are blind. Blind children are also learning to express themselves in a positive and confident manner.

The campaign, which was launched on June 28, will conclude on Aug. 7.