Report on the Plight of the Blind of Iraq

Report on the Plight of the Blind of Iraq

The Braille Monitor

December,

2003

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Report on the Plight

of the Blind of Iraq

by

Dustin Langan

Dustin Langan is a young

American working with the Office of Human Rights and Transitional Justice of

the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. He is responsible for dealing with

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the country, like the organization assisting

the blind. His title is deputy NGO coordinator. Though Mr. Langan readily admits

that he knows little about blindness, those who have worked or talked with him

say that his heart is in the right place, and his instincts are sound. He plans

to do what he can to work with international blindness organizations to help

the blind of Iraq. The following is a brief report that Mr. Langan prepared

and that was read for him at a conference on the situation of the blind in the

Middle East sponsored by the Kuwaiti government. Here is the text of the report:

National

Association for Blind Care

Pictured here is the doorway into the office of the Iraqi organization

assisting blind citizens. An inspector from the Coalition Provisional

Authority is standing beside a swamp cooler.

The National Association

for Blind Care was first brought to our attention by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph

Rice, a U.S. Army officer working with the Baghdad city council. Although our

focus is on providing support for NGOs that specialize in human rights, we were

sufficiently impressed with this organization and the special needs of its beneficiaries

to begin looking for ways to coordinate assistance.

Dr.

Sadiq al-Maliki, the current chair of the association, professed that the only

support they received from the previous government was an annual allocation

of 90,000 ID [Iraqi Dinar] (approximately $50 U.S.). The Asian Union for the

Blind donated a computer and white canes, but the cane supply was exhausted

and the computer was stolen during the widespread looting in Baghdad after April

9, 2003. When asked about their current contacts and relationships in the international

blind community, Dr. Sadiq mentioned only that he had not heard from the Asian

Union of the Blind since before the war.

Our

first visit to their operational headquarters took us to a residential neighborhood

in Baghdad. The building was not inaccessible, but it could have been better

placed on a major road. Our hosts informed us that they actually have two buildings,

but that one of them had been overrun by squatters and some of the rooms in

the remaining building were occupied as well. All that was left was three small

rooms, none of which measured more than four by three meters. The walls were

worn and slightly damaged, and electric wires sprouted from old sockets in clumps,

as is typical of the complete looting that occurred in Baghdad. Our hosts expressed

the worry that the walls were unstable and might collapse, but we were unable

to make this assessment. It was very hot in the small rooms. All that remained

of their original equipment and furnishings was a table, a few chairs, and an

old and broken switchboard-operating machine, which had been used in their telephone-receptionist

training program.

We

returned a week later to interview some of the beneficiaries of the association's

programs. We spoke to a violinist who once taught music classes at the association,

a man who used to teach Braille literacy, and a few telephone receptionists

who are currently employed at different hospitals. We also spoke to a man who

completed a university degree with the help of the association's recorded audio

cassette program.

Also

present were a blind husband and wife. The woman was a teacher and spoke enough

English to invite us to her home one day. Several persons present expressed

their desire for an equal life and talked about the prejudices they experience

in Iraq because of their blindness. Everyone was clearly hopeful that the association

could resume its old programs and develop new ones to help blind people find

work and enjoy a fuller life. One new idea that surfaced during discussion was

training blind people to use an electric floor buffer for cleaning the marble

and tile floors of many buildings in Baghdad.

Our

most recent meeting was a trip to the General Hospital in Sadr, Baghdad, to

see how one of the telephone receptionists performs at his job. The hospital

was quite busy, probably in no small part because it was the only hospital to

escape looting after the war. We found our interviewee in the receptionist's

room, sitting next to two Lucent telephones, which he used to direct calls within

the hospital. The general director of the hospital introduced himself to us

and presented another blind employee, who worked as a receptionist.

We

then went into the director's office to talk with him about his blind employees'

performance. He stated that he valued these two individuals very much and that

the person we had come to see had only begun working a month prior. Like all

people, he said, some blind people are more capable than others, and he would

not hesitate to hire another blind receptionist as long as that person proved

to be effective at the job. We asked about other potential employment opportunities

for blind people at a hospital or in general, and he recommended we consult

with the international blind community.

After

several interviews and visits, we find that the National Association for Blind

Care is an important component of a society that offers precious little to its

physically handicapped population. Despite minimal support from the state, the

association has provided its beneficiaries with vocational skills, educational

aids, cultural activities, and a sense of community. We recommend them for support

and hope to help them build stronger relationships with the international blind

community in the future.

Dustin Langan

Deputy NGO Coordinator

Office of Human Rights

and Transitional Justice

Coalition Provisional

Authority

Baghdad, Iraq

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