DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The number of blind students and people with poor eyesight who benefited from the initiative ‘From Heart to Heart’, for recording academic courses, in Damascus has reached about 500 for four years.
From Heart to Heart initiative was launched in September 2016 through recording academic curriculums and university lectures vocally and sending them to blind students and people with poor eyesight in order to be able to complete their education, according to those in charge for the initiative.
About %70 of the Syrian curriculum has been recorded so far, and within less than a month they will finish recording all the curriculum for all classes, according to volunteers in the initiative.
Save efforts
Ibrahim Golan, a student in the Sociology Faculty in Damascus University, said that he had been receiving voice recorded lectures from the initiative for two years.
He stated that he was able to pass to the second year by the initiative efforts that saved time and effort, “after I used to ask my friends to read the lectures for me.” He added.
About 200 volunteers are working in the initiative including teachers, journalists, layers, and engineers from different parts of the Syria government-held areas, in addition to expatriate Syrian volunteers from Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine, according to those in charge for the initiative.
Nada Rabiai, a university student from Damascus, said that she has been relying on the initiative for recorded curriculum since she was in the tenth class, “and now I am a first-year university student, and it is all thanks of the initiative,” she confirmed.
“Although it is a voluntary and free work, they are cooperative and flexible in their work regarding recording and handing over books,” Rabiai said.
Nada’s mother said that she used to record the books for her daughter, which “took a long time at the expense of my family duties.”
Nour Qasem, a journalist and founder of the initiative lives in Damascus, told North Press that the initiative was met with wide response, as books were recorded according to students’ request, in addition to recording the academic curricula for all classes.
Blind teachers evaluate the volunteers’ voices, according to pronunciation clarity and sound quality for the blind listener, and volunteers are being monitored for a short time to make sure of their good performance, according to Qasem.
In the initiative there are two teams one is responsible for recording books and lecture, while the other is responsible for handing them over to the blind students either by WhatsApp or Driver link.
Additionally, initiative’s organizers contact with Blind Associations in Syria in order to send the voice records to make use of them.
Happiness and achievements
Manal Hamidan, an engineer in a livestock development project in the governorate of Suwayda, has joined the initiative for three years and a half.
Hamidan began as a volunteer for recording books and then worked in distribution department, received and handed over books to the recording department after that she handed them to the blind students.
She mentioned that in their work they faced some difficulties including poor internet connection and power cut off.
“When a blind student tells us that he passed his exams, we feel happy for our achievement, because we are able to achieve our goal by helping people in-need,” the volunteer expressed her happiness.