A book for the blind 

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) A Tunisian university professor is seeking funds to publish the Arab world's first book for blind children.

Professor Raouf Alkarray said that despite the more than five million blind children in the Arab region there was no Arabic book to help them read and visualise.

"I have two manuscripts, but I lack funds for publishing them," said the professor of graphic art and illustration at the University of Sfax in Tunisia, speaking at the ten-day Sharjah International Book Fair which ends today.

Alkarray said he is developing books that contain illustrations that can be touched and felt, accompanied by Braille and Arabic scripts. "It costs dearly to produce. That is why I am trying to canvass support from the Arab governments and establishments," said the 60-year-old lecturer.

At hand, Alkarray has the two manuscripts which carry stories selected from famous Arab poets including Sadafi from Syriaand and Al Mahdali from Lebanon.

One of Alkarray's manuscripts is a five-page illustration of a child going through the process of being born, entitled, This is Where I Come From.

"Actually this is not my work, but it was an assignment from one of my students," he said. "His books are in French language, and a few are sold in some French speaking Arab countries such as Tunisia and Lebanon," said Alkarray, adding that "presently we don't have any...such work in Arabic.