Syria Today | Syria marks Arab Deaf Week

Syria marks Arab Deaf Week

AAMAL, a non-profit organisation that assists the disabled, launched a new deaf-support programme on May 2 and announced the placement of 25 hearing-impaired children into local schools. The announcement was part of a series of events organised by AAMAL to mark Arab Deaf Week which ran from April 26 to 30.

The 25 children entered public and private schools throughout Damascus after completing a two-year preparation programme organised and run by AAMAL in collaboration with Syria's Central Council for the Disabled (CCD).

During Arab Deaf Week AAMAL launched several campaigns to raise awareness about people with hearing impairments. It also gave free hearing examinations in kindergartens and arranged for children with hearing impairments to meet Syrian celebrities.

Feras and Wael Moubayed, who both left Syria to seek treatment for hearing impairments, will lead the new deaf-support programme.

"By launching the deaf-support programme we want to provide a better life for all Syrian children with hearing impairments who can't study and learn abroad like we did," Feras said.

Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad established AAMAL in 2002 and in 2007 the organisation produced a national plan for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, endorsed by the CCD.