My name is Saeed Nasser, I am a visually impaired person living in Sandwell. My experiences of visual impairment, community work and working as a counsellor has motivated, inspired and made me very passionate to help these children to give them a good start in life to improve their life chances.

Over the last 2 years I have been working with colleagues and friends to support the work of Alnoor Institute for the Blind in Aden Yemen which I am very passionate about.

The Alnoor Institute was established by a British soldier in the 1950s and modelled on the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) at that time. The school provides services for blind and visually impaired students in Aden and due to the conflict that is going on in Yemen, the provision for resources to educate and support the children is in a very poor state.

So far with the help of many generous and kind people, we have raised funds to purchase a bus to carry the children to and from school, print the national curriculum for all the stages in Braille and to install solar power panels in the premises for electricity supply as the normal electricity is very intermittent.

As you can see in the media coverage, Yemen has been ravaged by war and conflict for many years and everyday life in Yemen is grim and intolerable for most of the population however it is so much more challenging and tough for visually impaired people. The children are vulnerable and isolated, however the school provides a lifeline for them to interact, connect, learn and access services which we take for granted.

We are looking for any Braille equipment such as Perkins Braillers, Braille frames to be used in the classrooms, and other items that can be used to educate visually impaired children or to be used in play activities such as footballs with ball bearings which make sounds and so on.

We urge donors to donate any specialist equipment If you have any equipment which you no longer need. You can make a financial donation towards purchasing these vital equipment which can make a real difference to the lives of visually impaired children.

Your assistance will be very much appreciated and will go a long way to change the lives of the visually impaired children in Aden.

In the words of the late Helen Keller: "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much".

If you wish to visit the website for the Alnoor Institute, please visit:

www.alnooraden.com

If you would like to help in any other way, you can contact me at the Yemeni Community Association in Sandwell via email:

saeed@yca-sandwell.org.uk or phone on 07790-421-553.

Thank you.