MUSCAT -- Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has enhanced its support for disadvantaged people by agreeing to fund the construction of a pottery workshop for the blind. The Company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the workshop at the Omar Bin Al Khatab Institute for the Blind in Muscat which will help students who wish to attain new skills and pursue a future in the pottery trade. PDO External Affairs Director Mundhir al Barwani, who signed the MoU with Shaikh Mohammed bin Hamdan al Tobi, Adviser at the Ministry of Education, said: "Our Social Investment Programme seeks to support disadvantaged people and communities by helping them to help themselves. "PDO has invested heavily in training, education and infrastructure to this end and the workshop will provide a fantastic opportunity for blind people to have fun, learn and also forge a career in pottery if they wish."
PDO has long been supportive of the visually impaired in Oman. In 2007, it funded a fully equipped computer laboratory at the Omar Bin Al Khatab Institute, which serves the educational needs of all of Oman's blind people. The project included the installation of the most up-to-date hardware and software, such as text-to-speech technology displaying Arabic text in Braille, Braille printers and other tools which allow access to, and the exchange of, computerised information by the blind. Earlier this year, PDO also donated 10 Braille Sense Notetakers to students, who graduated from the Institute to Sultan Qaboos University. The computerised devices, which are equipped with Braille keyboards, sound recorders and Internet access, help users both in their studies and leisure activities.
PDO has also partnered with Al Noor Association for the Blind, paying for two buses in Dhofar and Al Dakhiliyah to help its members travel.
The Company has just won a prestigious award from the Gulf Cooperation Council in appreciation of its role in, and contributions to, sustainable development in the Sultanate. Its Social Investment Programme was honoured at the 30th session of the Council for Ministers of Development and Social Affairs in Bahrain.
© Oman Daily Observer 2013