Based on the responsibility and community participation and the importance of awareness of issues of visual impairment and the challenges faced by blind people, the Community Service and Environmental Development Sector at the Faculty of Education at Ain Shams University organized a visit to the Model Center for the Care and Guidance of the Blind - in Heliopolis, Cairo.

The Faculty of Education, at Ain Shams University, with the support of Prof. Safaa Shehata, Acting Dean of the Faculty, was keen on organizing this kind of purposeful visit under the supervision of Prof. Alaa El-Din Abdel-Halim Mohamed Farag, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development.

The visit team was received by Dr. Ayman Al-Dahshan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center and the members of the Council, represented by Prof. Suhair Safwat, Professor at the Faculty of Education at Ain Shams University and the general coordinator of the visit, and Mr. Advisor Ayman Fouad Fahmy, Major General Dr. Mohsen Mustafa Suleiman Al-Fahham, and Major General Dr. Ahmed Rifai Abdel Hafez. Mr. Hussein Abu Assem, Secretary of the Board of Directors, and a group of members and employees of the Center.

The meeting included a comprehensive coverage by Dr. Ayman Al-Dahshan of the establishment of the center and the most important goals for which it was established and its important societal role. The members of the Board of Directors also referred to the aspects undertaken by the members during this period to work for the necessary development of the center and open prospects for cooperation with the various sectors of society.

The institutional capabilities that characterize the center, and the most important services that the center provides to its blind visitors, such as health, social, cultural and sports services, in addition to internal care, were referred. The various activities that the center offers to the sectors of society were also identified, and consultation and dialogue took place between the representatives of the faculty and members of the Board of Directors. The administration discusses aspects of fruitful cooperation during the coming period in support of the importance of community participation and its role in achieving sustainable development.

The visit concluded with a tour of the visiting team to the training halls, conference hall, activity rooms and the products offered by the center.

The visit came out with a set of recommendations, which included working on cooperation in organizing training workshops and series of awareness-raising educational seminars, as well as opening prospects for benefiting from studies carried out by the college and university in serving people with disabilities, in support of the societal role played by the college and university in support of community partnership that achieve Egypt's vision 2030.

It is worth noting that the center was established under an agreement between the Egyptian government, the United Nations and the International Labor Organization at the end of 1953 to provide services to the blind in Egypt and the Arab countries.