Today, Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen, President of Ain Shams University, and His Grace Bishop Ermia, General Bishop and Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center, attended the celebration for the distribution of certificates for Egyptian Sign Language courses, which took place in the Grand Conference Hall of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center at Anba Rowais.

The event was held as part of the cooperation protocol between Ain Shams University and the center, attended by Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Development, Prof. Hanan Al-Saeed, General Coordinator of the protocol, and Prof. Rana El-Helaly, Director of the University’s Center for Serving Students with Disabilities.

This celebration is part of an initiative to teach sign language aimed at empowering people with disabilities and enhancing their capabilities. The initiative contributes to creating a more communicative society by integrating the deaf and hard of hearing, affirming that disability is not in the body but in the minds that ignore their abilities.

Dr. Mohamed Diaa expressed his happiness with this important event in his speech and praised the fruitful cooperation between Ain Shams University and the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center since the signing of the cooperation protocol in 2016. He emphasized the importance of continuing this collaboration, which has resulted in the graduation of a distinguished batch of trained individuals qualified to work with people with hearing disabilities, including faculty members and administrative staff at Ain Shams University.

The President of Ain Shams University noted that the university continues its cooperation with the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center in various fields that contribute to community development, praising the efforts of Prof. Rana El-Helaly, Director of the Center for Serving Students with Disabilities, and Prof. Hanan Al-Saeed, Director of the Blended Learning Center, in coordinating joint efforts between the two sides.

For his part, His Grace Bishop Ermia praised the close cooperation between the center and Ain Shams University and commended its role in supporting people with disabilities, especially the deaf and hard of hearing. He also mentioned that the Coptic Cultural Center has been striving since its establishment in 2008 to provide diverse services to Egyptian society through training and collaboration with local and global organizations, with Ain Shams University playing a pioneering role in this collaboration.

Bishop Ermia clarified that the protocol signed with the university included many training courses aimed at empowering individuals with disabilities and training their guardians on effective communication with them, noting that the center's big dream is to establish a professional diploma in Egypt and the Middle East to qualify specialized interpreters in sign language.

Prof. Hanan Al-Saeed, General Coordinator of the Cooperation Protocol, confirmed that this protocol was the result of a shared vision between His Grace Bishop Ermia and Dr. Abdel Wahab Ezzat, the former president of Ain Shams University, and that it continued thanks to ongoing efforts and the constant support from the university.

Prof. Rana El-Helaly, Director of the Center for Students with Disabilities at Ain Shams University, explained that the center seeks to achieve the university's vision aimed at building a "Barrier-Free University Community," emphasizing the importance of learning sign language among all members of the university community to facilitate communication with students with hearing disabilities. She added that the university allows them to enroll in all colleges that provide education and develop their skills in line with their disabilities, in order to realize the principle of equal opportunities, which helps them integrate into the job market and build their personalities to face the challenges of university life.

The training course included several key areas, most notably: the psychology of individuals with hearing disabilities, the nature of the deaf, types of deafness, as well as discussing their social problems and how to deal with them. The course also included training on using body movements and different gestures to express ideas, practical application of various life and academic signs, in addition to field training.

It is worth noting that the course was supervised by specialized trainers from the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center, aiming to prepare the university community to deal with students who are deaf and hard of hearing. A total of 135 trainees successfully completed the course, including 49 from Ain Shams University, which lasted for four weeks at a rate of two days per week, totaling 100 training hours under complete academic supervision.

The ceremony concluded with artistic performances presented by a group of hard of hearing individuals, alongside a video presentation documenting the history of the protocol signing. Certificates were distributed to the trainees, including faculty members, interpreters, and students.

The celebration was attended by a group of deans, vice deans, faculty staff, members of the Egyptian Family House, interpreters, Ms. Claire Gais, an education consultant and trainer at the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center, and Dr. Reham El-Otaifi, General Director of the Education and Students Sector.