Disability

E.M.A.D. - Enabling and Mobilsing Afghan Disabled

S.H.I.P. - SERVE's Hearing Impaired Programme

E.M.A.D. - Enabling and Mobilising Afghan Disabled

SERVE's support services for blind Afghans grew out of the perceived needs for blind people by the staff of the Afghan Eye Hospital (AEH) in Peshawar, Pakistan. The AEH staff was forced to turn away hundreds of incurable blind patients every year. For this reason SERVE started a project in 1986 for there habilitation of blind Afghans. The project moved into Afghanistan in 1993 and has worked since then in six provinces of Afghanistan. At the end of 1998, the rest of the activities in the refugee camps in Pakistan were closed and the project concentrated its efforts among visually impaired people inside Afghanistan.

Our focus now lies on community based rehabilitation. We raise awareness of the needs of the people with disabilities within the community. Our volunteers integrate children with disabilities (if possible) in local schools and they refer others to relevant services. They also organise vocational training and provide rehabilitative training to people with disabilities in their homes.

SERVE's Activities:

Publishing and printing Braille books and producing audio tapes
Providing functional training: daily living skills, social skills, communication skills, orientation & mobility
Education in Braille (home-schooling)
Vocational training & job placement in various trades (tailoring, shop keeping, vegetable gardening etc.)

The communities participate actively in their habilitation and education of blind clients and they provide resource rooms, volunteers for teaching blind pupils, and vocational training & job placements. These job placements help the blind clients to become self-supporting and active members of their community. In the areas where E.M.A.D. is working with rehabilitation programmes, the attitude of the people regarding the disabled has changed significantly as they now accept that people with disabilities have the right to receive education and that they are able to work. This changes the lives of our clients, as they are now becoming accepted as full members of the society.

The Problem Solver - 'Give me another Math problem!' In front of me sits a big smiling blind boy with his braille mathematics plate. He can't get enough of solving mathematical problems! His brother is sitting next to him, they are both blind and they also have a blind little sister. Their father is watching them and he looks very proud. He is a teacher himself in Kabul City and knows the value of education. Before the boys could start the braille lessons, they were taught by SERVE how to move about more independently, and do chores around the house. SERVE is working on integrating blind children, like these two boys, into local schools so they can enjoy the same education as their other class mates.