A few days ago en route to our holiday apartment in the Margate area, situated on the Kwazulu natal South Coast, my dad wanted our guest from Madina and I to vist Madrassa An- Noor for the blind.The institute is situated in the Pietermaritzburg region and is surrounded by beautiful picturesque hills. Despite being situated just off the main national highway, it feels as though the school is located in the country side. When we arrived at the institute the first thing that caught my attention was the beautiful horses that roamed around freely on the premises. Later on I discovered that the horses were in fact donated to the school. The blind students ride the horses on a daily basis for recreational activity. The horses are trained to cater to the needs of the blind rider steering clear of any obstructions like trees or huge boulders. The day we visited the school, the principal was abroad attending a conference related to the latest technology and learning apparatus for the blind. A teacher from the school warmly welcomed us and gave us a brief tour of the premises. I was very impressed with the high level of cleanliness in the school. Everything was arranged immaculately.We walked from class to class meeting and greeting all the students. The school has 30 students that hail from 14 different countries. There are students from South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Palestine, England,India, Pakistan, South America, Panama, Comoros, Malawi, Lesotho and Kenya. Our guest from Madina and I heard the students recite verses from the Quraan along with Ahaadith from Sahih Bukhari. Tears rolled down my eyes when I heard the student from India reciting verses from the Holy Quraan in the most beautiful voice I ever heard. Almost half of the students present at the institute were not born Muslims. They have reverted into the fold of Islam. The school also has a recording room whereby scholars render their services by reciting verses from the Quraan or relating stories pertaining to Islamic jurisprudence. The recordings are then compiled into a CD so that blind people who can not study at the institute due to unforeseen circumstances, can still access the CD's by ordering it and have it delivered to their homes. As the teacher quite correctly pointed out to me,' if a blind person can not come to the knowledge, the knowledge can go to them.' Whilst chatting to one of the students, I discovered that he had come into fold of Islam after exploring the topic of religion whilst at university. What was so remarkable about this student was the fact that he had traveled two years ago for Hajj from South Africa all by himself. He was very pleased to have met our guest from Madina tul Munawwara and asked him to pray for his parents. His family have not reverted to Islam but they respect the fact that he is a Muslim and have also visited him at the institute. Our guest from Madina speaks a few languages and hence the little boy from Palestine took a liking to the gentleman. They conversed happily in Arabic and also exchanged telephone numbers. The teacher told me that the boy was his parents most beloved due to the fact that he was a blind child. The family were always overly protective of him. Yet inorder to seek knowledge he traveled to South Africa all alone. It was a tremendous sacrifice on the part of the parents letting go of their beloved son. Madrassa an Noor is the only school in South Africa that prints Arabic material into Braille for blind students. The machine that does this conversion is manufactured in the United States. One machine costs R700 000 and the school has two of these technological wonders.I was given a brief demonstration on how the system works. Normal books are scanned into the computer and then converted into Braille. Once the conversion is done, the Braille Place machine prints out the pages containing the Braille text. I was also informed that initially the Non Muslim community that reside around the institute were apprehensive about having a Muslim school in the area. I always believe that a lack of knowledge always breeds ignorance. After the institute invited members of the community to the premises to observe the kind of learning activities that are carried out there, many Non Muslim blind elderly people have also started frequenting the facility to utilize the games, toys and other apparatus that are specifically designed to cater for the needs of the blind individual. This is a perfect example of bridging community ties. Its costs the institute approximately R100 000 a month with an average of R3000 per student. Students are provided with their own personal computer, clothing, food, housing facilities as well as a plane ticket on a yearly basis to visit their family. At present the school only has male students. However, there are plans in the pipeline to construct a female boarding school facility as well. I strongly urge everyone out there to please make a contribution towards a worthy cause so that this good work can continue for years to come.
Kindly send your donations to: Madrassa An- Noor for the Blind,
Standard Bank of South Africa
Pietermaritzburg
Lillah Acc: 250376512
Zakaat Acc: 052195392
Swift code: SBZAZAJJ
I pray that this institute grows from pillar to pillar and from strength to strength. May God Almighty bless the teachers of the institute for their hard work and dedication. Ameen.
As a side thought, I always observe that the youth of today are idle minded basically engrossed with the mobile phone, computer games, playing with the Ipad or some other technological gadget.
Parents should encourage their kids to visit institutes like these to render voluntary services. These students feel happy and loved when guests visit them. It motivates and encourages them to pursue their studies. Also, by visiting these institutes, it makes one realise just how much we have to be grateful and thankful for at every moment of our lives. We need to thank God Almighty for the bounties that He has bestowed upon us. It would give the youth a sense of appreciating the finer things in life rather than being carried away into a materialistic bandwagon that has suddenly become a norm and a way of life.
For further information and contact details kindly visit their website:
http://www.mnblind.org/?id=101
