The majority of schools for people who are blind in Pakistan currently do not have textbooks - we need your cooperation to change that. 

I am hosting this campaign to help my elder cousin Salman Elahi complete his initiative in transcribing useful textbooks in braille to special schools. I've been visiting Pakistan regularly since 1994 and have stayed with him and his family regularly. When the lights go out, he's the only one that can effectively navigate the entire house! 

During one of my visits, I remember speaking with him about his blindness and how he's had the motivation to complete such an extensive education (he has a Ph.D in Sociology and is also a Hafiz-e-Qur'an since 7 years of age). He told me a story about himself. When he was younger, he was preparing for his university exams and had asked a friend to read some notes to him. His friend told him that he'd be there in 2 minutes and Salman bhai never saw him again. This instance has continually served as his motivation to be come independent and focus on initiatives for people who are blind.

Salman Elahi is currently the President of Pakistan Blind Sports Federation and has dedicated his life to accomplishing initiatives for people who are blind. PBSF provides necessary resources for the physical, mental, social, and financial development of blind people in order to ensure an independent and comfortable living for them. He's previous played for the International Pakistan Blind cricket team and participated in world cups. He is married and has two adorable daughters, Amna and Hadiya.

This initiative aims to establish a Braille press in Pakistan to print these textbooks.

Braille is a system of six raised dots and it is the internationally recognized reading and writing format for the blind and visually impaired people. In Pakistan, there are approximately 80 to 90 special schools which are providing education to the blind children but unfortunately, majority of these schools have no textbooks in Braille and these students usually have to take external help to study after listening to their course books from teachers or parents.

Take for example the story of Sidra Sattar, another individual involved with this initiative. She had to drop out of her Master education because she did not have access to any material in Braille and constantly required the assistance of her sister. Her sister got married and she could no longer continue her education. These Braille textbooks will help ensure such instances are minimal.

We humbly request you to cooperate and support us to launch and run this project so we can remove every hurdle from the field of education for the blind people and make it easier for them to access useful knowledge independently. We will also be greatly honored to invite you at its launching ceremony.

Here's where your money will go:

We currently have a room at Karachi University where some work has already started, but the Printer is what will really help this project grow and scale across Karachi, and other parts of Pakistan. Class 7 and 8 books have already been converted and have a master copy created. There are plans to repeat this for secondary and elementary classes.

• The Braille Printer (this is the majority of the cost) - it will be purchased from Index Company, Version 5
• One room to host the Braille Press
• Electricity to run the press
• Two employees -- one to read ink-print books and the other to type and transcribe them into Braille format
• Two computer systems
• Furniture - tables and chairs
• Monthly operating expenses