A large number of government officials, businessmen and philanthropists took part in the launching ceremony held at Nesma Training Center in Jeddah.
Businessman Saleh Al-Turki emphasized the importance of spreading a culture of sign literacy in the society. “This is essential in order for us to interact with people having hearing disability,” he pointed out. He disclosed plans to set up a website for sign language in order to educate people how to learn the language.
Abdul Monem Al-Asheikh, director general of the society’s branch office in the province, said the organization would establish a higher institute for the deaf to enable children with hearing disabilities to continue their studies after secondary education.
“The institute’s certificate will be equal to the one issued by a university,” Al-Asheikh said. The institute will be established in cooperation with the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) and the private sector. He said the society would continue its efforts to spread sign language literacy. “We believe that this is a national and humanitarian duty,” he added.
He said the society conducts a number of activities including the national campaign titled “Among Us There are People with Hearing Disabilities.” The campaign also aims at shedding light on the reasons for such disabilities and how to prevent them.
Muhammad Al-Hamoud, executive director of the society in the province, said the campaign would address all groups of people including foreigners.
“During the campaign, we’ll distribute more than 500,000 copies of an abridged edition of the Arab sign language dictionary in order to distribute them among the targeted people,” he said. “The campaign is supervised by a group of experts and this makes our organization more professional and highly organized,” Al-Hamoud said.
Bandar Al-Amri, manager of the campaign and expert in sign language, disclosed the society’s intent to expand the campaign to cover all the Kingdom’s provinces in the future. The campaign will target commercial centers, shopping malls and recreational centers in the first phase. “We decided to hold the campaign during Ramadan because a large number of people visit shopping centers during this month,” he added.
Al-Amri stressed the importance of learning the sign language in order to interact with the deaf and meet their requirements. “The sign language will take those who can speak to a different world,” he said. The society aims at educating the public about the capabilities and rights of people having hearing disability and issue rules and regulations to support them and establish training educational centers for them. It also encourages research on hearing disability.
