Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – The world turned dark for Husni Bougas when he lost his vision. Depressed and dejected he cut himself off from the world and confined himself to his room for six years. But one day listening to a radio program, he came to know about the Ebsar Foundation. He saw a ray of hope, and joined the foundation. “I got introduced to another world, the world of visually impaired people,” he told Saudi Gazette. Life once again became colorful for Bougas, who managed through Braille Without Border to get a one-year training course in India. There he developed his project idea of establishing a massage center in the Kingdom. The center he thought could open up job opportunities for the visually impaired in the Kingdom. But his vision proved to be short-lived. His dream project has still not seen the light of the day. Bougas contacted the Ministry of Social Affairs and waited for their response for a year. He was referred to the Ministry of Health. There also he waited for a year for their response. But Bougas was undeterred. “I don't give up. I contacted the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities as they have five star hotels which provide massage services. However, after a long wait they referred me to the Science and Technology Council, and I have not received a response up till now,” he said. But Bougas, who has a master's degree in health and hospital management and is a trained masseur, is now running his own clinic “Touch” and is also training his friends at home. Bougas is not the only person who has faced roadblocks in his struggle to make a respectable living. Mohammad Balo, the Secretary-General of the Ebsar Foundation who too is visually impaired, told Saudi Gazette that he stopped dealing with banks after he was asked to be accompanied by a person for any transactions to the bank. Balo would get apologies whenever he approached a bank, as banks do not have a system that serves visually impaired people. He said that his foundation highlighted the issue. So they were approached by a company that provides an equipment to banks that helps serve the visually impaired. The Ebsar Foundation offered to train bank staff on handling the equipment, yet nothing materialized as the equipment never arrived, Balo said. He called on local banks to benefit from the experience of banks abroad, which provide special services to visually impaired people. The number of visually impaired people in the Kingdom has exceeded one million and up to 60% of them need bank services, Balo said, and added: “When will we stop begging others to get our own rights? How long will we be dependent on others? We want to be independent?” However, Talaat Hafez, Secretary-General of the Media and Banking Awareness Committee of Saudi Banks, said that there was no need for the visually impaired clients to visit a bank in the company of an “introducer.” It is an option for illiterate and visually impaired clients to have an introducer, Hafez said, adding that if they do not want an introducer they can finalize their transactions with the help of a bank staff.
