On October 21st, 2020, CGDS Deputy Director Dr. Lynn Rose and EU MENA Coordinator Ms. Tara Burhan visited the Blind Union of Kurdistan. Mr Hawbash, the union’s president, gave us a brief overview of the organization. Founded on the 17th of July 1994, the main goal of the Blind Union is to bring blind people together and to educate the public about blindness, thus improving the relationship between blind and sighted people, including blind people and their own families. The organization’s management also believes in the power of education, and have had success: blind people from the region are completing their education and their higher education—some having studied abroad—and working as lawyers, translators, and lecturers. Mr. Kameel, who began his graduate studies in France, was with us, as well as Mr. Shanaw, a lawyer and Director of Communications for the union. Mr. Awat, who is responsible for the three recording studios, gave us a tour of the studios; Ms. Narmin, an employee of the organization who reads books aloud for recording, accompanied us. CGDS looks forwards to working with the Blind Union toward our mutual goal of intersectional social justice.
Photo Description: There are two photos. One shows a man with dark hair sitting behind a large wooden desk, facing the camera. He wears a white collared shirt with a blue suit coat. He sits in a tall dark blue office chair, his right hand resting lightly on a brown desk pad. On the front of the desk are awards, notebooks, and a small clock. To his right is a phone and a desk tray. One the wall behind him hang ten certificates and a photo, in two rows. The certificates are framed in green, pink, blue, brown, gold, and black. The two in the center of the lower row are hung straight; the others are evenly spaced at 60-degree angles. The photo, in the center at the top row, shows a man in a dark suit with a red tie, smiling benevolently and raising his hands, palms out, above his head.
The other photo shows a man with short dark hair and mustache standing in a recording studio. His back is to the camera and his face, turned to the left, is in profile as he works with the technical equipment on the desk in front of him. He wears dark glasses and a black, short-sleeved, collarless shirt. On the desk in front of him is a computer screen, headphones, and a black box with dials and toggles. He faces a window through which we see a woman with long dark hair, dressed in dark jeans and short-sleeved, collarless shirt, taking a photo with her phone through the window.