Based on the reports in the country there are round about four hundred and fifty thousand blind and deaf disabled persons. Based on this purposes the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan a while ago created learning programs for the children with the support of some cooperative organizations working for the children and were involved in the creation of learning centers for the children.
From the other side the governmental organizations have explained that they have plan to build eight schools for those people who are blind and deaf to get benefit of the educational services.
Although all of us know that Afghanistan has a number of problems in different areas and we have always had discussions about the lack of plans in their fundamental and basic activities.
Based on the population, Afghanistan has a huge number of disabled persons and the important point is that the least attention is given to this layer of people in the society.
But after the dissolution of the Taliban regime, different institutions of the civil society are struggling to do something for this vulnerable layer of the society.
The disabled persons are divided into different categories and one of the categories is the group of blinds and deaf in the country.
The blind people need some points to continue their education and also cope with their problems.
One of the institutions which is working in the area of blind children in Kabul is the Rahyab Re-empowering Organization for Disabled Persons; for further information regarding their activities I (Masoud Ansar) have conducted an interview with deputy of this organization Mr. Mahdi Salami which is going to be presented to you dear audience.
Question: At the beginning if you introduce yourself to the fans of the program?
Answer: My name is Mahdi Salami and I am the deputy of Rahyab Re-empowering Organization.
Question: In which areas your organization is operating?
Answer: Our organization as a non-governmental organization is providing learning for the blind children before and after school. Also we are technically supporting them with the provision of learning materials and even during their higher education we are providing them with some learning materials.
Similarly, in the area of lawsuit and awareness for the blind disabled persons we have programs and we conduct workshops for them.
In the area of providing them vocational trainings we have provided for the men and women and from these trainings they are having good jobs.
Question: The trainings that you are mentioning are being taught by whom?
Answer: Our working team is normally composed of the blind persons and some other people who can see are working with us as part-time and fortunately after having a computer program now we are able to do our administrative activities as well.
Question: How are your trainings and where you have received these trainings?
Answer: I and Ms. Yaqoubi who are the leading members of this organization have completed our school and university in Iran where we were taught by good teachers and we would like to serve from this way to the respected people of Afghanistan.
Question: How are you training the students?
Answer: I would like to say that the experiments at the modern educational levels are showing that whenever we are providing facilities they can perform many good jobs; regarding the training methods, I would like to mention that we are using the system of students oriented method; it is not in the classic method that the teacher or trainer says and the students just learn; so now the students are also participating in the trainings and itself provide the opportunity of better learning. It is the reason that whenever the students are coming here they are thinking that it is a place of entertainment, whereas we are trying to provide them with topics in a better way.
Question: How many employees are working with you?
Answer: Our working team is composed of five persons and we are performing in a very coordinative way our activities.
Question: How many students do you have?
Answer: We have round about seventy five students who are coming to the office and are learning.
Question: Is your organization operating in other provinces or not?
Answer: We are struggling to start our operation in other provinces but currently we are only operating in Kabul because this is our current capacity and financial capability.
But the struggle is continue and at the first step we would like to cover the districts of Kabul and then we are planning to expand our training supports in the other areas of the country. A while ago the survey that we had from the Istalif district of Kabul round about twenty five children were found who were facing the problem of blindness and we are struggling if the opportunities are provided to us to start our training activities over there.
Question: By whom your current financial support is maintained?
Answer: Obviously I would like to tell you regarding your question that our office is a local institution and in the area of financial support the gracious people and the businessmen are supporting us.
Question: It means that so far neither the governmental organization nor the non-governmental organization supported you?
Answer: We have administrative cooperation with the governmental institutions like the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD), Ministry of Education and Ministry of Economy but in the area of budget and financial aids only those people who are gracious, businessmen and those who want to help the blind people are supporting us.
Question: Since when your office is operating and what services you have provided to the people above and under maturity ages?
Answer: We are operating since past three years and during these three years we are working in the training of blind children and also we were busy in training the elder blinds in the vocational trainings and these people are now busy in the cities and markets. Similarly in the education section our activities could able the blind children to sit together with the other children in the school and study with the same conditions.
These activities caused that the blind people see a confidence in themselves and are now able to cope in a good way with the problems of the society and work as an active person.
Question: How is your support with the governmental institutions?
Answer: Our support with the governmental institutions are very good and we have active participation along with our students in the ceremonies conducted by the governmental institutions like the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD), Ministry of Education and other institutions.
Question: Is there any institution which is monitoring your activities?
Answer: Regarding your question I would like to say that there are different governmental organization which are monitoring our activities; for example: The Ministry of Economy in the budgetary issues, The Ministry of Education in the teaching and curriculum issues, the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) in the administrative and even the process of our expenditures of finances that we are supported by the people.
Question: Do you have any information that currently how many institutions are working for the blind people in our country and how is their work?
Answer: In Afghanistan as a whole and then especially in Kabul the issue of education for the blinds are taken under consideration but in two forms; one is from the vocational schools of the blinds and secondly the normal education where they are getting it with the normal children. First of all I would like to mention that there are children who are getting prepared before going to school and then whenever they are admitting to schools, where we have post admission trainings to the children.
Question: How is admission process of students in your institution?
Answer: We are using different methods for the admission of the students; we have different types of surveys in different areas to find out the blind children, similarly we are getting support from the friends and people who are in contact with us and are having information about the blinds; they are introducing them to us and also the other institutions which are in contact with us are introducing the blind children to us for the training.
Question: Well; Mr. Salami, how are you evaluating the current conditions of the blind children?
Answer: This question is very much important and it should be responded very deeply; it is said that there are a numerous blind children in Kabul who are not having access to the education which could be a consider a big problem, from the humanitarian facilities there are a number of problems on the way of blind children, they don’t have physical access to the places, they have also problem with the behavior of the people in the society; the people of the society are not having proper behavior with them and they are calling them with improper titles and many more.
Question: Mr. Salami; what and how is the brail writing?
Answer: Brail writing is the type of writing introduced two hundred years ago by a French blind named Brail and later on this was known as his name. The brail writing is one of the writing which is very much easy; the letters are collected and then separated in the six points which itself can give the information and the brail writing is not the only way of learning; there are other ways like by using the computers where the blinds can solve their administrative problems with the help of computers.
Question: Is it possible for the blinds to use the brails writing and cope with their problems?
Answer: As I mentioned the computer has created many facilities for the blinds because there are some programs which really help the blinds to cope with their problems and find out solutions for their problems. If the blinds are familiar with the brail writing then it shows them very much qualified.
Question: Well as a final question from you; Mr. Salami based on your views after spending many years and activities of different institutions, what activities have been performed for the disability?
Answer: Well Afghanistan is a country which has faced with three decades of war and has lost all of its properties and infrastructures and from that time the number of the disabled persons are also increased and also there problems increased and in a country where there is a lack of law then these problems are existing.
Now as the conditions are changed and we are having specific laws for each section then without doubt good activities are also performed; in the past the disabled persons were not aware of their rights but now they have somehow awareness about their rights and in each area we have laws regarding the disabled person and the implementation of the institutions could eliminate the remaining problems.
With many thanks form all of you that you have followed our discussion until the end of the program.
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