Iraqi teen reprints storybooks in braille for people who are blind

A 19-year-old in Dohuk, Iraq is reprinting books in braille to make them more accessible. When Rezhin Ahmad struggled to find braille books written in Kurdish, she took matters into her own hands.
 
Braille is a tactile writing system with raised dots that can be read with the fingers and is typically used by people with low vision or who are blind. Ahmad used a braille printer that belonged to her teacher to make the copies. 

She first had to translate each book by hand into braille in order to reprint them. “I wrote them all and it is all handwritten,” Ahmad told the Associated Press. The teen opted for a book called Beautiful Words and has since made six copies for other readers who are blind. 

“There wasn’t any braille, neither in books nor in papers. Now, we are very happy that a book is written for us, one that visually impaired people can enjoy reading,” one of the readers, Heyhat Asaad, told the Associated Press. 

People who are visually impaired struggle to find support in Dohuk. There aren’t any accommodations made at public institutions or on public transportation. Meanwhile, people who are blind or have low vision can only receive an education until secondary school. 

by Emerald Pellot

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