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FOR SAUD BIN SALEM AL AZRI, HIS LIFE MISSION IS TO FOLLOW THE LIGHT OF LOVE AND KINDNESS, WRITES ANUPAMA ARUNKUMAR
KINDNESS is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see Mark Twain once quoted. And one will notice life for Saud Bin Salem Al Azri is a journey meant to just lead by that very principle. Head of Communications and Public Relations for Al Noor Association for the Blind, Azri finds fulfilment in helping fellow beings find the light of knowledge and empowerment that will liberate one from all darkness.
The visit to the celebration put together by the Al Noor Association in Nizwa was a memorable one. Of course, the hospitality and the skills and talents put up by the group on stage were unforgettable. But what really touched hearts was the hope and strength that each soul carried with it, illuminating us on the beauty of life.
It was the turn of Noor, a charming young girl, to get up on stage. In her red and white dress the 11-year-old got came up and started to sing a melodious Arabic number and the whole room went silent. Her soul stirring rendition of a song that talked about the things she wanted and wished to see when she has the gift of sight put the girl next to me in almost tears. “Look at her sing. Her name is Noor, which means light, and she is singing about the lovely sights she would see one’s she is out of her dark world. But maashah Allah, when Almighty takes something, He also gives them something. Listen to her sweet voice,” he exclaimed.
Noor is just one of those brave stories that never get tired of dreaming about the freedom that a normal life gives. “There are thousands of people out there like Noor who are looking for a better tomorrow,” said Azri.
With more than a hundred visually impaired members, Al Noor Association aims to create better opportunities for them in their professional as well as personal lives.
“Our association was founded in 1997 and registered under the Ministry of Social Development. Our motto being to serve the interest of the visually impaired in social and economic set up, training them to cope with day-to-day life is what we try to focus on at present,” added Azri.
Having worked with hundreds of members, which also includes people from the interiors, Azri finds ‘kindness’, one word that could make a whole lot of difference in their world. “Kindness to yourself and to others – helps you adapt to the situation. We need to understand the problems to help and for that you need the patience and keen ears to listen to the woes of fellow human beings. And this goes for you, too. You need to have the kindness to forgive yourself for the mistakes you make. Only when you are kind to yourself can you learn new things and move on.”
One of the main challenges being the lack of materials and expert training, Azri feels it’s the love and care people have for their fellow beings that will help them serve this community better.
“Being visually challenged myself I know the difficulties visually impaired go through. So we have identified that in order to make life easy for such people and we need to utilise proper technology that will give us access to information and also the technical help that will help us sail easy by using existing technology.”
With a number of private organisations aiding the association by providing equipment like laptops, computers, headphones, iPads and Braillers, Azri finds training the hard part of running the organisation. “The members are capable of imparting some basic training for the visually challenged, but then again the abilities are limited. We do have hope when we are offered support from outside. We had for example, experts coming in and teaching us to use PCs and specially designed software and this did bring a huge difference to many.”
With up to 40 per cent of the members being women, the association also takes special care in catering to their needs. “We believe in equality here and we give as much importance to women. Imparting education and living skills is our focus here and there are many who have found their lives much easier and happier after joining this group. Self reliance becomes a very important part of the issue and the earlier you train the better. And with the improved technology that is available now, our only concern will be how to make it available to us.”
anupamaak@gmail.com
Oman Mirror
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