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Rural or urban, FESF catering to deaf  children in all parts of Pakistan

By our correspondents
May 30, 2016

Karachi

By our correspondent

Over a million people in Pakistan suffer from hearing impairments, many of them living in far-flung areas of the country, Richard Geary, the executive director of the Family Education Services Foundation (FESF), said at a fundraiser at the Convention Centre, Defence Authority Golf Club, on Saturday night.

“With limited resources, it’s an uphill task to cater to all the deaf students living in the mainstream cities, let alone the ones residing in the remote areas of the country,” he added.

“However, the FESF is providing formal education and academic literacy training to over 1,000 deaf students in its seven schools, while the foundation has also imparted technical and vocational skills to a number of hearing impaired people across the county, who are now working in the practical world with dignity and honour.”

A big round of applause erupted in the hall, which was filled to its capacity, as the FESF executive director further informed the audience that his foundation had inaugurated the first deaf college last year along with launching a dictionary – the Pakistan Sign Language, which comprises a 5,000-word strong vocabulary for the deaf community, enabling them to interact with the world.

“Being parents of a deaf child, my wife and I could understand the complications for the deaf community,” said Geary.

“We came to Pakistan almost 27 years ago. Now, it’s our own country.”

Regarding his services for the deaf community, the FESF executive director recalled that he had started the project with around 40 deaf children, who were taught and trained at a small centre in Saddar, Karachi.

He shared with the audience that 12 of the children hailed from Baldia Town and their families had brought them to the centre with a hope to see them progressing in their lives.

“Most of the kids were six to seven years old. It was heartwarming that their families were too happy to see their loved-ones studying at the centre.”

To collect funds for the hearing impaired students, distinctive paintings and unique photographs were placed for auction at the event.

As folk and Sufi singer Sanam Marvi showed up at the stage, her soul-illuminating voice mesmerised the audience, reinforcing that the listeners should contribute for those who could not hear anything in their world. From “Daman Lagiyan Maula” to “Yaar Ko Hamne Jaa Baja Dekha”, the folk singer gave an exceptional performance – as if she was trying to communicate with the deaf children sitting in the hall, and that too in a language that could only be felt.

Earlier, a group of deaf children started the programme by performing the national anthem with the sign language and their adorable gestures.

The host of the programme, Sarah Sheikh, told the audience that the programme was planned a few weeks ago and the large presence of attendees showed the enthusiasm of the Pakistani people for such noble causes. She said the hallmark of the FESF’s efforts was to reach out to those hearing-impaired children and youth who were living in areas which were not even known to a large population of the country.

The FESF executive director also thanked the audience for showing up in large numbers and the ones who participated in the bidding to buy paintings and photographs.

He also thanked Shahrukh Hasan of the Jang Group for helping the foundation in reaching out to the masses for the cause of supporting the deaf community.

Talking to The News, noted television actress Rubina Ashraf said she was attending the event to support the FESF and express her love for the deaf community.

“We should take it as an obligation to help and support deaf people so that they can live a life making use of all their skills,” she added.