Dialogue in the Dark: The bridge between the visible and the invisible

The five fundamental senses of the human body are touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. To understand and perceive the world around us, the detecting organs connected to each sense transmit data to the brain.

The most important sense in our body is vision, which is essential for every aspect and stage of life. Without vision, it is difficult to study, walk, read, and work. We often take vision for granted.

An eye's or the visual system's functional limitation is known as visual impairment. It is characterized by a diminished capacity to see an item clearly, whether it is far away or close up, and it cannot be treated by traditional means like optical, medicinal, or surgical procedures, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reported. 

According to estimates from 2010, there are 285 million (4.2%) individuals worldwide who have visual impairments, of which 39 million (0.6%) are blind and 246 million (3.7%) have low vision. In the continent of Africa, there are 26.3 million people who are visually impaired. Of these, 5.9 million are blind and 20.4 million have impaired eyesight. According to this estimate, Africa is home to 15.3% of the world's blind people. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that effective interventions are available to meet the requirements related to eye disorders and vision impairment in the areas of promotion, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. Vision rehabilitation is very effective in improving functioning for people with an irreversible vision loss.

In the context of socially interacting and engaging those with visual impairment, over 41 nations across Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia had an exhibition named “Dialogue in the Dark” for more than 27 years. Dialogue in the Dark was first opened in Germany, and since then, visitors have been led through the exhibition by blind people, who have helped them discover a hidden world and alter the way they perceive. 

It is a life-altering experience that provides a chance to communicate with a variety of settings and locations that rely on the senses of touch, taste, smell, and sound in specially built darkened rooms. The person has the opportunity to spend an hour exploring the invisible while being led by a blind or visually impaired guide and using a white cane.

Imitating the German experience, Dialogue in the Dark in Egypt is the first branch opened in the Middle East and Africa. It is affiliated with Al Nour Wal Amal, a non-profit organization founded in 1954 for the care and social integration of blind girls and women. 

Jusoor Post had the opportunity to experience Dialogue in the Dark in Egypt. It started with being received by a very efficient visually impaired receptionist who registered our data and put all our stuff, including cell phones, in private lockers. We had a quick orientation, and we were given white canes. Afterwards, our journey began with Osama, our visually impaired guide, in completely dark rooms, with nothing but our other senses to guide us.

We experienced typical daily settings like crossing the street, strolling through a market, playing games or going to a café. The sighted become blind and the blind become sighted as we moved through the Dialogue in the Dark exhibition, creating a role reversal that promoted equality, integration and more social engagement. 

After finishing our almost one-hour voyage in the dark, we were gradually exposed to the light again and started to feel differently, appreciating our vision more. Later, another guide introduced us to Braille alphabets and typewriters and taught us to write on post cards, which we kept as a memory. 

Jusoor Post spoke with Caroline Omar, learning and education officer at Dialogue in the Dark Egypt. She told us that the center organizes many activities for companies, schools and groups in order to spread the culture of diversity and engaging blind and visually impaired into the society.

“We are equal. They have the same capabilities we have,” she said, adding, “One of our visually impaired colleagues has become a university professor and has a message to deliver to the world.”   

Omar enthusiastically told us that they are now working on promoting the idea in the Egyptian society by organizing activities and events through which they can convey their word.