Plight of deaf mini tribe heard at last

Miss-Delectable · 02-21-2006, 04:17 PM

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayA...iddleeast&col=

JEDDAH — They may not hear. But their problems have been heard where it counts. The plight that they have been suffering for decades has been noticed in the right quarters.

A committee has been formed to look into the case of a mini tribe of three families all related and deaf, who were recently reported in the Arabic daily Al Riyadh as living in a desert oasis about 300 kilometres northwest of the hill resort of Taif. Taif Governor Fahd bin Abdul Aziz bin Mu'ammar ordered the formation of the committee in implementation of the directives of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General. The committee comprises three representatives from Taif Governorate, head of Dhulam rural centre, director of the health centre in Dhulam and a doctor from the health centre.

The committee members travelled to the area known as Malawi desert and stayed for one day and a night with the family. They prepared a detailed report describing the living and social conditions of the inhabitants who are at one with the solitude and emptiness of the desert that is around them. Two of the heads of the families are brothers while the third is related through the wife, who is a cousin.

The first family is headed by Jiddi bin Mishaan Al Otaibi, who is in his 50s, and his wife Muneer, who is in her thirties. They have nine children, aged between two and 12 years, the entire family is deaf. Their children are illiterate because they cannot afford the special education that is required and neither can they make the extraordinarily long journeys out to the schools. At one time they did try to formally educate their children but with no success.

“I used to travel with my son to a school 45km away, in this rough terrain, for almost three years but he did not benefit from it so he left school,” Al Otaibi told the daily. After this failure he decided not to repeat it with the other children.

The second family consists of five members, also all deaf, except for the wife. Their children are not of the school-going age, yet they have already decided that they won't be sending them on a long round-trip away from home to receive an education. This was primarily because they don't have the money to fund it.

The third family is headed by Saud Hawsan, who is in his seventies and his wife, who is in her thirties. They have seven children.

02-21-2006, 04:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
Miss-Delectable Capt Tony Nelson, Jeannie Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: No.1 Shopping Capital in Australia Posts: 8,686 Blog Entries: 3	Plight of deaf mini tribe heard at last http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayA...iddleeast&col= JEDDAH — They may not hear. But their problems have been heard where it counts. The plight that they have been suffering for decades has been noticed in the right quarters. A committee has been formed to look into the case of a mini tribe of three families all related and deaf, who were recently reported in the Arabic daily Al Riyadh as living in a desert oasis about 300 kilometres northwest of the hill resort of Taif. Taif Governor Fahd bin Abdul Aziz bin Mu'ammar ordered the formation of the committee in implementation of the directives of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General. The committee comprises three representatives from Taif Governorate, head of Dhulam rural centre, director of the health centre in Dhulam and a doctor from the health centre. The committee members travelled to the area known as Malawi desert and stayed for one day and a night with the family. They prepared a detailed report describing the living and social conditions of the inhabitants who are at one with the solitude and emptiness of the desert that is around them. Two of the heads of the families are brothers while the third is related through the wife, who is a cousin. The first family is headed by Jiddi bin Mishaan Al Otaibi, who is in his 50s, and his wife Muneer, who is in her thirties. They have nine children, aged between two and 12 years, the entire family is deaf. Their children are illiterate because they cannot afford the special education that is required and neither can they make the extraordinarily long journeys out to the schools. At one time they did try to formally educate their children but with no success. “I used to travel with my son to a school 45km away, in this rough terrain, for almost three years but he did not benefit from it so he left school,” Al Otaibi told the daily. After this failure he decided not to repeat it with the other children. The second family consists of five members, also all deaf, except for the wife. Their children are not of the school-going age, yet they have already decided that they won't be sending them on a long round-trip away from home to receive an education. This was primarily because they don't have the money to fund it. The third family is headed by Saud Hawsan, who is in his seventies and his wife, who is in her thirties. They have seven children. __________________

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