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When it was founded in 2004, the Qatar Social and Cultural Center for the Blind was the first organisation of its kind in the country, aiming to provide support, social activities and courses for the visually impaired.
Today, as more and more centres and groups are established to support those with special needs in Qatar, including the Qatar Assistive Technology Center (Mada), the Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs, and the Al Noor Institute for the Blind, the Center and its administration and staff continue to work hard to assist the visually impaired in Qatar.
Qatar Tribune spoke with Faisal al Meer, a member of the Center's board of directors, about the centre and its programmes, and the contribution it makes to Qatari society.
Introducing the Qatar Social and Cultural Center for the Blind, the official noted that it was distinctive in including the visually impaired in its administration and decision-making bodies.
"The Qatar Social and Cultural Center for the Blind, you could say, is run for the blind by the blind, as the organisation's chief decision-making body, the board of directors consists of members who are visually impaired, including the Chairman Faisal Muhammad al Kooheji and I myself, am partially sighted. In other words, we know what it's like to be visually impaired, so we try to go above and beyond in helping the visually impaired by, for instance, providing free transportation to and from the Center for those with special needs," he said.
Listing some of the Center's activities and programmes, Meer explained that they include"special training programmes to help the visually impaired to develop their abilities and to increase their knowledge and experience, and courses in computer applications, the English language, Braille, and other subjects".
"We organise an annual summer activities programme, which just recently concluded, and this year it was held under the slogan 'A spectrum of Summer activities' to hint at the variety of activities offered, including the cultural, social, athletic, and recreational.
"In addition to offering participants informative and enjoyable ways to spend their time, we also focus on the social dimension, because one of the recurring issues that those with special needs have is a feeling of isolation or loneliness, and we want to help prevent this."
The Center recently organised a series of workshops on human development under the title 'community initiative through efficient workforce'."With the workshops, the centre seeks to promote entrepreneurship among its affiliates from both genders, by providing them with the information needed to start an initiative to become a successful project," Meer added.
As for upcoming activities, Meer noted that, on October 15, the Center will be organising a special event to mark the International White Cane Day, which"is a date set aside to celebrate the achievements of those who are blind or visually impaired, symbolised by the white cane, which is also a symbol of independence for the visually impaired".
"So we are not just aiming to support those with visual impairment, but we are also working hard to ensure that they are accepted for who they, and not as somehow less important than others, are in the Qatari society," he noted, elaborating on another dimension of the Center's contributions to local society.
The Center also welcomes volunteers, according to the official.
"In this way, and through our other initiatives, we want to strengthen relationships between the visually impaired and the wider society, thus ensuring that the blind are perceived to be an important component of society," he said.
