Kalimat Foundation for Children's Empowerment (KF), the Sharjah-based non-profit children's organisation, has donated 150 audio, braille and large print books to visually impaired students at the Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum School in the Jordan capital Amman, in line with KF's vision to promote the role of children with special needs and in line with the ‘Year of Giving 2017, ‘as declared by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The books were distributed during KF’s visit to the school, which coincided with the visit by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and Chairperson of KF, to the Emirati-Jordanian Refugee Camp in Marjeeb Al Fahood, Al Zarqa. The initiative aimed to gain a closer view of children’s abilities and their needs for learning materials and sources of knowledge - a move that comes as part of KF’s efforts to strengthen its channels of communication with all relevant bodies in Arab countries.

The visit is also among the means adopted by KF to implement the ‘Ara’ initiative it launched during its participation at the ninth edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival to promote awareness about children who are visually impaired and to encourage community segments to support their education pursuits.

During the visit, Amna Al Mazmi, Manager of KF, met Abdul Monem Al Duwairi, Principal of the school, and a number of the teaching and administrative staff. She discussed possible avenues of cooperation to realise the foundation’s aim of

advancing knowledge and enhancing the educational performance of students with visual impairment.

Al Mazmi toured the school’s various sections, where she met a number of students. She was able to gain a deeper insight into their lifestyles and to learn about assistive technology devices used to facilitate the learning process and help in the daily lives of visually impaired students. She also familiarised herself with the sources of knowledge available at the school, such as audio and braille books.

Al Mazmi said: “KF’s initiative to distribute books to children with visual impairment aligns with the goals of Sheikha Bodour to support children’s rights to access books and to benefit from the knowledge they acquire to serve their communities and nations in the future.”

She added: “Children with special needs face difficulties in obtaining the necessary books written in braille, due to a lack of Arabic content and high prices. This is why we took the initiative of providing this collection of books for the Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum School for the Visually Impaired. The initiative aims to meet students’ needs for braille books and to enrich the school’s library that serves generations of pupils.”

Al Mazmi concluded by saying: “We sought opportunities for more cooperation and future joint action with the school and various institutions for people with special needs.”

Abdul Monem Al Duwairi said: “Our school provides care and education for students with visual impairment from grades 1-12, where we offer all the academic and rehabilitative services they need. We look forward to providing the school’s library with a range of braille books, stories and novels.”

He continued: “Kalimat Foundation’s initiative is contributing to turning our student’s dreams into a reality by providing us with a collection of braille stories, another set of large print books and a collection of audio stories. This will be the beginning of a long partnership between the foundation and our school. We will study the needs of

visually challenged students and teachers so as to secure similar books in the future.”

The school Principal extended his profound thanks and appreciation to Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi and the Kalimat Foundation for the initiative, which he said will enhance self-independence and expand knowledge, thus realising KF’s goal for the empowerment of all children irrespective of their physical abilities.

KF was established in 2016 under an initiative by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi out of her belief that reading was the best way to advance communities and continue development. KF is dedicated to providing books and reading material to children in underprivileged areas, as well as global regions affected by conflict and wars.