KHARTOUM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The loss of vision has never prevented Abdalla Abdul-Rahim, a 43-year-old Sudanese man, from pursuing a normal life and taking up carpentry as a profession despite the difficulty and danger of using sharp tools.
His carpentry workshop locates at the Institute of Blind People's House in Sudan's capital Khartoum, where he told his struggled story to Xinhua.
"I have been blind since I was a baby due to malaria, and through my effort, I finished my primary, secondary and university studies majoring in media," recalled Abdul-Rahim.
"Twelve years ago, I joined the Institute of Blind People's House and was trained by a blind teacher in carpentry. Then I became an assistant teacher before becoming a teacher of carpentry at the institute," he said, adding that some of his students are well-sighted people.
As he practices his carpentry profession, Abdul-Rahim uses the same carpentry equipment used by sighted people, except for the Braille ruler and pen read by touches.
"I rely on my sense and use of wooden tools instead of distance markers," he said.
"I use a special ruler made on Braille, a method invented by the French Louis Braille. It is a night-writing alphabet system, in which the letters are written on paper in a form of (raised) dot patterns, allowing the blind to read thanks to the sense of touching," he said.
"As for the pen, it is a Braille stylus, which gives a sharp line that is felt with the finger," Abdul-Rahim added.
Abdul-Rahim further said that disability has not prevented him from living a normal life, saying "I go about my normal life like any person. I use transportation on my own. I travel alone and do all my home duties. I believe that disability does not hinder a person if he has the will."
During his 12-year career, Abdel Rahim has achieved professional success in making wooden furniture like beds, benches, cupboards, chairs and tables.
"I have achieved the success that I have never expected. I have many clients, and I am making good returns from this profession," he said.
According to statistics from the Sudan National Program for Prevention of Blindness, about 225,000 people in the country suffer from blindness.
Sudan plans to continue to reduce the prevalence of blindness in patients with eye diseases to a target rate of 0.5 percent by 2025.
In 2005, Sudan launched the Vision 2020 initiative to control blinding diseases, which focuses on preventing the spread of trachoma and cataract, the two major diseases responsible for blindness in the African country. ■
