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WINTER
2011
25
Melda Salhab ’09
, 20, thought little of giving
up her holiday this past summer. She did so
quite willingly.There was a reason, of course:
she was busy helping to organize a camp to
integrate blind children with sighted ones.
“I never realized what a sheltered life I
used to lead,” she said. “I’ve been exposed
to social problems before but never got as
involved as this.”
As part of IC graduating requirements,
students must fulfill 90 hours of commu-
nity service. It was actually this experience
at IC that spurred her to continue with
her volunteer work in the US.
After graduating from IC in 2009, Salhab
began her studies in Economics and
“Peace and Justice Studies” at Wellesley
University in Massachusetts. It was there
that she met and became friends with an-
other Lebanese student – Sara Minkara.
Legally blind since the age of 7, Minkara
had a dream: to prove to blind children in
Lebanon that they have the same capabili-
ties as sighted ones. Minkara’s parents
moved to the US upon finding out that
both their daughters were going blind.
Today, Sara just graduated from Wellesley
in Economics and Math while her sister,
Mona, is studying for her doctorate.
“They are an inspiration to me,” said Sal-
hab. “They are just amazing.”
For the first time Melda began to realize
that disabilities can be overcome. As she
and Sarah became close friends, Melda
began to share Sara’s dream. Sara had run
a camp for non-sighted and sighted chil-
dren a year earlier in Tripoli. Its success
spurred her to found a non-profit organi-
zation: Empowerment Through Integra-
tion (ETI). The NGO’s first project was to
organize a more elaborate summer camp
in Beirut and Tripoli - “Camp Rafiqi”.
Last Christmas break, Sara, Melda and two
other Wellesley students came to Lebanon
and spent their time researching venues,
seeking volunteers and sponsors for two
camps: one in Tripoli and one in Beirut.
A four-week curriculum was carefully de-
signed with the help of MIT and Harvard
professors which included math, sciences,
dance, sports, theatre and swimming.
Back in the US, the Wellesley students spent
every free moment planning for the camps.
In Lebanon, students from local universities
began to sign up as sponsors offered some
needed materials. IC itself loaned out its
musical instruments over the summer.
Finally, the camps were launched in July
and the children (up to age 18) began to
arrive. Up to 60 children were enrolled in
each camp. Some were visually impaired
and others were sighted. No one was
turned away. All were from impoverished
families.The camps were free of charge.
It took only a few hours for Melda to real-
ize the level of ignorance that still prevails
in the country. “There were parents asking if
their sighted children would get the ‘blind
disease’ or if it’s dangerous if their kids
mingled with the blind children,” she said.
At first, some of the sighted children
scoffed at their non-sighted peers. It didn’t
take long, however, for them to assume the
roles of avid guides and cheerleaders.
Throughout the summer, an issue contin-
ued to gnaw at organizers: most blindness
cases in children, it seems, are preventable.
“These are blind kids that don’t need to be
blind,” said Pamela Davis, a US volunteer
and one of the camp organizers. “This
situation needs to be fixed.”
Since her arrival to Lebanon earlier in the
summer, Davis has been researching and talk-
ing to Lebanese officials and medical person-
nel in an effort to uncover the causes behind
childhood blindness in Lebanon. She soon
found out the main culprit: consanguineous
marriages (intermarrying cousins).
“The solution is a public health campaign
that really changes this,” she said adamantly.
As Davis continued her research, Melda
continued working with the camps.
“I personally feel that I’ve grown a lot
through this experience,” she said. “It was
great to see the sighted children feel that
they can have as much fun with a blind
child as they can with a sighted child.”
At the end of summer, Melda returned to
Wellesley. She and her friends have already
started planning for next year’s camp.
Camp Rafiqi