AFTER ten years of working under brand names such as Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan and Harrods Feras Al-Moubayed is leaving the extravagant world of fashion design.
Al-Moubayed, 38, is deaf and has decided to devote his future to helping others with this disability. This month finally all the hard work was paid off with the birth of the Syrian Deaf Children Society in London.
Speaking in sign language, Al-Moubayed said he came to the decision to do more for deaf Syrians after a visit to his hometown of Damascus in 2006.
The urge to help hit him when he met deaf children and youths with specific educational needs that were not being served by the public school system.
“I felt empathy with my community that life has not been fair to them,” he said. “They do not want people to pity them. They can do many things. They just need the guidance. That is why I feel I owe it to them. I had the chance to become successful and it is time to help them achieve their goals and become useful, too.”
Al-Moubayed was born in Kuwait and lost his hearing when he was two years old. Due to lack of knowledge on dealing with deaf children there, he was never able to communicate or understand what was being taught until the age of nine.
His parents, who are Syrian, decided then to move to England so that he could get an appropriate education.
“Within six months I was pronouncing sounds I never thought I would,” he said.
His plans involve running free classes in British Sign Language and sponsor cultural events and other fundraisers in Syria and the UK. Al-Moubayed said he plans to use some of the money to build an extension of an existing school for these children. He also wants to push for better public policy in Syria.
“I’ll also do my best to ensure the deaf rights for employment with the implementation of governmental regulations, such as the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act,” he said.
“Feras has been a great inspiration for all of us, especially because he is a deaf himself and was deprived of learning for the first nine years of his life,” said Nora Sibaey, 25, one of his team’s events organizers.
Besides finding his passion in fashion design Al-Moubayed was also featured in a BBC production entitled “Switch,” where he played the role of a 30-year-old deaf man with marital problems. He also starred in a Channel 4 drama production.
“The situation in most of the Arab countries is still way behind when it comes to communicating with the deaf, but I do hope we see positive changes soon,” he said.
Meanwhile Al-Moubayed is planning on visiting Syria for a longer period of time in order to make a documentary about Syrian deaf children and present the real image to the world.
— For more inquiries on how to contribute contact Al-Moubayed at: [email protected].
