Al Noor
Institute for the Visually Impaired teamed up with the Museum of Islamic
Art (MIA) to organise a variety of activities on White Cane Safety Day,
which is celebrated on October15, in the United States and around the
world as an occasion to recognise the achievements of the blind and
visually impaired. First signed in to law in the United States in 1964,
the date is set aside to mark an important symbol of blindness and a
tool of independence - the white cane.
A group of over a hundred
children and teachers from the Al Noor Institute visited MIA yesterday
to take part in a morning of specially organised activities. After being
welcomed to MIA by Salem Abdullah al-Marri, Deputy Director of Learning
and Outreach at MIA, they were given a tour of the museum by expert
guides, enjoyed a story-telling session in the museums library, the
largest of its kind in the region, and participated in an art workshop.
The
resulting work produced by the students during the workshop will
feature in a temporary exhibition to take place at the museum, and which
is designed to give members of the local community an overview of Al
Noor Institute and its activities.
In addition to the various
sessions involving the students themselves, two 15-minute tours were
organised by staff from the Al Noor Institute during which members of
the public were invited to take part.
These were designed to enable
members of the public to experience a tour of the museum much as a
visually impaired or blind person would, and to provide an awareness of
how visually impaired and blind people encounter the world around them.
White
Cane Safety day is celebrated in schools around the country in Qatar in
a bid to build awareness and understanding on how blind and visually
impaired people manage in their daily lives. – QNA
