A survey on the life of some 35 visually impaired Saudi males and females who have passed the course entitled “Blind Professional Employee”, conducted by the Ebsar Foundation, stressed that people with disabilities should be provided with opportunities that will help them lead a qualitatively better life. The report highlighted the importance of designing such programs to instill confidence in the visually impaired. The survey is part of the campaign under the sponsorship of Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz, initiated by the foundation to support the education and development of the visually impaired. Prince Talal who is the honorary president of the foundation said the need of the hour is to plan for the future in order to reinforce self-dependence among the visually impaired. Mohammed Tawfeeq Bellow, secretary general of the Ebsar Foudation, said that the program, which was launched last year, develops skills, provides suitable job opportunities and keeps the visually impaired up to date with new trends. The beneficiaries of the program include those engaged as receptionists, imams, teachers, disability affairs coordinators, administrative officials in the public and private sectors and university academics. He said that the five-day course included many lectures highlighting employee-employer rights, skills needed in the labor market and a training program entitled “How to be a star”. Mohammed Nabeeh, representative of the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind in Washington State, shared his personal experience of going to the United States after leaving the university to join a training and development program. A documentary was shown about the life of Tawfeeq Bellow, a visually impaired employee of Saudi Arabian Airlines who went to the US to join a training program and upon returning to the Kingdom became secretary general of the Ebsar Foundation. __
