EGYPT: Museum trains blind tour guides

[E.J. Zufelt]

Not sure of the original source:

> EGYPT: Museum trains blind tour guides
>
> For the average visitor to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, a stroll  
> through
> the museums halls, crowded with ancient statues, papyrus, mummies, and
> gilded relics, offers an unparalleled journey into the visual  
> splendour of
> Ancient Egypt.
>
> It is a journey that has been, until recently, off limits to the
> sight-impaired or blind.
> But a recent program offering guided tours for the blind or sight  
> impaired
> by tour guides who are similarly handicapped is now, for the first  
> time,
> giving them proper access to the greatest treasures from the times  
> of the
> Pharaohs.
>
> The Museum's Director says the tours, and museum classes on Ancient  
> Egypt
> for blind children, are designed to cater to a neglected section of  
> society.
>
> "The activity of the school in fact seeks to instruct blind tour  
> guides so
> that they will be able to convey good information to blind children  
> who
> visit the Egyptian Museum. We opened the Egyptian Museum to the  
> blind to
> enable them to see their ancestors' great monuments," says Dr. Wafaa
> El-Seddiq.
>
> The tours and the museum's school for the blind are the brainchild  
> of Dr.
> El-Seddiq, who said that the idea came to her when she was doing her  
> PhD
> studies in Germany and noticed the extraordinary lengths German  
> museums go
> to to cater to the blind - from sound effects, to Braille markings and
> guides.
>
> That inspired her to work to create a similar program for the blind
> population of Egypt, variously estimated at between tens to hundreds  
> of
> thousands, so they could have access to their own rich heritage.
>
> The program began five years ago and now offers weekly classes for  
> children
> and has four guides on staff who use Braille guides for their tour  
> groups.
>
> Blind tour guides are trained not only to convey important historical
> information about the antiquities they are describing, but are also  
> given
> special permission to allow blind visitors to touch the exhibits in  
> order to
> feel what they cannot see.
>
> Normally touching ancient relics is strictly forbidden as it causes  
> damage
> to them.
>
> The Egyptian Museum in central Cairo has the world's largest  
> collection of
> antiquities from the times of the Pharaohs, with 120,000 pieces on  
> display
> or in storage.
>
> The Museum's prize exhibit are the over 3,000 pieces on display from  
> King
> Tutankhamen's tomb, including the boy-Pharaoh's famous golden mask.
>
> Trainee guide Adel Naguib says that it is easier for a blind guide to
> communicate to someone who experiences the world in the same way.
>
> "Most of the tour guides that describe the antiquities here  
> generally repeat
> information and don't offer anything new. So what do we want to do?  
> We want
> to describe the antiquities from the perspective of the blind  
> themselves, in
> the way they see the antiquities," he says.
>
> Nagwa Abdul Maqsoud, who is a qualified guide, says she feels she is  
> doing
> important work.
> "We honestly feel as if we have arrived, that I have become a tour  
> guide in
> the Egyptian Museum, a tour guide for the blind. The Egyptian Museum  
> is
> something very important. Bring me a sighted guide and compare them  
> to a
> blind tour guide, the blind tour guide will go into the details of the
> antiquities more than the other guide. The sighted guide usually just
> conveys information. We give you the information and give you  
> details of the
> statue itself," she said.
>
> Egypt is currently trying to retrieve famous Egyptian relics that  
> were taken
> abroad, like the bust of Nefertiti in Berlin and the Rosetta Stone in
> London, and trainee Ahmed Mohamed says he hopes they come back to  
> Egypt so
> he can experience them up close, since he cannot see images of them.
>
> "Of course, of course, I hope that all the stolen monuments abroad are
> returned to Egypt, so that I can see things I've seen before, and I  
> hope
> that the Rosetta stone, which is in the British Museum, is  
> returned," he
> said.
>
> The Museum's program for the blind is still growing, but even the  
> modest
> effort so far is finally offering an opportunity for those who  
> cannot see
> the wonders of Ancient Egypt, to experience in an entirely new and  
> different
> way.


Everett

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