Shahd Alhamdan
Saudi Gazette
For most people, continuously stumbling, hurting themselves and frequently meeting with accidents would be enough motivation to think outside of the box, innovate and change their circumstances.
After years of suffering, Omar Alsuhaibani decided to do something to help himself and his small community.
Alsuhaibani is a blind Saudi in his 30s who always enjoyed coloring and art. As a small child, he suffered from optical weakness.
“I could not correctly color a drawing,” Alsuhaibani said. “I used always to color outside the lines because for me the lines were not clear. Each time I failed to color in the right way, I closed the drawing book. I kept repeating this action a lot and each time I got the same result.”
He said he felt frustrated for blind people because they are unable to enjoy drawing and coloring, unlike people with other disabilities.
Three years ago he began searching for a solution.
“I decided to do something that would benefit blind people,” he said. “I used to visit the library a lot and observe the books. I kept asking myself why blind people are prevented from enjoying art. I tried to discuss the topic with my father and close friends to figure out answers for all my questions.”
After searching for some time, Alsuhaibani figured out that blind people could color if the drawing had a clear, prominent frame.
He began thinking about how to employ braille – raised dots that allow visually impaired people to read words with their hands – for drawing and art.
Alsuhaibani contacted several companies, seeing if they were interested, but failed to convince them with his idea.
Most replied that it was impossible and said that he needed to change his plan for something that could be achieved.
“I started searching for the required machines and tools,” he said. “When I bought everything, I tried the Braille concept with a couple of drawings.”
Alsuhaibani currently sells many drawings that use Braille, such as Saudi football logos, and images of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and other public figures.
He said he has received positive response from many people and has now started taking orders via social media.
Alsuhaibani graduated from the Noor Institute for the Visually Impaired in Riyadh, and is currently a student at the College of Social Sciences under the Department of Special Education.
