RAFİF ESLEEM

Gaza- There are about 93,000 persons with disabilities in Palestine, the persons with disabilities in Palestine constitute 2.1% of the total population; 48% in the West Bank and 52% in Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). 20% of persons with disabilities in Palestine are children under 18 years old.

The Palestine Technical College has launched a new project called, “Education for All” to support and integrate women and girls with disabilities, particularly hearing impaired women and girls, in the Gaza Strip.

They work coordinately with other universities

Project coordinator Aisha Al-Kurd said, “The project is funded by the European Union to integrate girls and women with visual impairment into higher education and develop their skills. The persons with visual impairment in the Gaza Strip cannot access high school.” Aisha Al-Kurd said that they work coordinately with the Palestine Technical University- Kadoorie in the northern West Bank and other universities in Jordan and in European countries to generalize the experience of integrating hearing impaired people with other people in one class.”

Stating that the project will last three years, Aisha Al-Kurd said, “Many students with disabilities outperform others in performing tasks and interacting during the lecture.”

Sign language

Samah El-Helou, who teaches sign language to the hearing-impaired students, told us that they first gave a course to workers in several departments of the college to teach them sign language before the implementation of the project. She explained that sign language is like other languages ​​that need to be studied in order to memorize symbols, signs and words.

She wants to develop her own project

Halima Hamida is one of the hearing-impaired students participating in the project. She told us that for the first time in the Gaza Strip she found an activity that includes girls with disabilities. She wants to be a sign language translator and teaches sign language to other hearing-impaired girls so that they can overcome the obstacles faced by them. She dreams of developing her own project in future to achieve her economic independence.

Shiraz Ahmed is another girl participating in the project. She told us that the project gives her the opportunity to learn many things such as computers and languages.