Beyond sight: New project to help visually impaired students
October 12, 2019
A new program aims to build the capacity of blind and visually impaired students in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, for whom access to education is otherwise restricted.
The initiative, named “Our Visionary Champions”, is a joint project of the Islamabad-based Aaap Communications and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Once rolled out, it aims to hold leadership training workshops for the visually impaired students in four cities of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“The dilemma of visually impaired people is that media highlights their problems and challenges, but not their achievements and success stories,” Ammar Masood, the CEO of Aaap Communications, said at the launch of the program.
“In our opinion, the best way to highlight the problems faced by visually impaired people is to focus on their struggles and achievements. This way, visually impaired people will be recognised as the heroes that they are.”
The workshops will be conducted by high achievers from the visually impaired community, who will be recognized as Champions by the project.
“Celebrating the success of visually impaired people is extremely important in inspiring the entire visually challenged community,” added psychiatrist Brig. (r) Dr. Moaddat.
There are nearly two million visually impaired people in Pakistan.
