KAMPALA, Uganda
Turkish state aid agency TIKA has provided assorted items, including copies of the Qur’an in braille, to help the visually impaired who wish to learn the holy book.
Braille is a tactile method of reading and writing used by the blind and visually impaired.
In Uganda, visually impaired Muslims who wish to study the Qur’an using Braille often face challenges due to inadequate facilities.
TIKA coordinator for Uganda Murat Cetin said that the agency is supportive of every Ugandan, including those with visual impairments.
“Taking care of people with disabilities, including the blind, is among the core missions of Türkiye, because we believe in the effective role of everyone including the visually impaired, in the Ugandan society,” he said.
The project of implementing the Qur’an in braille is jointly implemented by TIKA, the International Braille Qur’an Foundation, and Çare Solidarity and Development Association.
Emre Olgay, the Ugandan country director for Çare association, said that TIKA provided Braille Qur’ans, Braille yasarna and other braille books in addition to white canes.
He added that the visually impaired first learn braille letters before proceeding to read the Quran. "They use their fingers because they are sensitive, to read the Quran in braille," he said.
Halis Kurulay, the president of the International Braille Qur’an Foundation, said that the Quran in braille is different from other Quran editions because one chapter of the Qur’an in Braille is bundled in a large book.
The braille Qur’an is characterized by its large size and special thick cardboard, where the dots are clear and prominent so that they can be easily read using the fingertips.
The Braille alphabet was invented in 1829 for the reading and writing of visually impaired people. It was named after its French inventor, Louis Braille, who lost his sight at the age of three. He discovered that using the dots system to read and write was easier and faster than the previous method of using prominent printed letters.
Uganda’s Minister of State for Disability Affairs Asamo Hellen Grace recently said that the government has made progress on promoting the rights and mobility of persons with visual impairments.
He said that the east African country was among the first countries to ratify the international agreements such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and has amended its national policies to align with these international standards.
Uganda’s Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) 2014 report indicates that of the 6.4 million persons with disabilities, 2.1 million have visual impairments, accounting for 33.2% of the disabled population.
