“In their Silence they are Creators”... Taha's Dream to Exit Tanta from Darkness to Light

By: Mai Shaheen

Cairo, Feb 9th (SEE): Hanem Taha, a student still in her twenties, was able to get third place as an ideal student at the level of Egyptian universities. She liked to have an impact on her college and university. Thus she found her passion in sign language until she launched an initiative "Fel Samt Mobdeoun' meaning- In their Silence they are Creators".

Taha, the founder of the initiative, said that this initiative which started on October 1st 2016, aims to raise awareness of the disabled in general and the awareness of the deaf and the hearing impaired in particular. She also dreams to spread the sign language as a second language in the Egyptian schools. It was first launched at the Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University.

Taha explained, to "SEE": "After joining the Department of English special needs of the Faculty of Education, Tanta University, I decided to leave a different footprint in this section, so I started to improve myself through educational courses; to transfer what I learned to Tanta".

"I learned in order to turn Tanta from the darkness to light through this field," Taha said.

After taking these courses, the founder of the initiative noticed that these groups of society were marginalized; therefore, she decided to be their voice, and began to provide various events such as awareness campaigns in Egyptian universities to teach the principles and basics of sign language in Arabic.

Taha uses the successful disability challengers in their fields to give a sort of inspiration to others, defeat the word "impossible" in the minds of different people with disabilities and following the same path towards their dreams.

Hanem Taha with

Dr. Fadia Abdel Jawad, the first deaf doctor in the world

Taha recounted the most inspiring story that affected deaf people, Dr. Fadia Abdel Jawad, the first deaf doctor in the world, who joined the Faculty of Medicine with hearing impairment. After 40 years of hearing impairment, she underwent a cochlear implants in the ear to restore hearing. She was taught at the Faculty of Medicine through the oral movement of lecturers.

She concluded that "Fel Samt Mobdeoun" is the cornerstone of being an ideal student at the level of Tanta University or competing at the level of other universities. She hopes that the initiative will be completed after her graduation through the launch of a cooperation protocol with a fixed party to ensure continuity of this initiative in the future.