As part of the summer vacation events a committee of Jeddah Chambers of Commerce and Industry is organizing an entertainment festival for the handicapped on July 3. “We are aiming to educate the society about the ways to deal with handicapped persons. It will also focus on the positive effects on these unfortunate people of the support extended to them,” said Shaqi Khayat, head of the JCCI will-makers committee. The committee is getting a great support from business houses, Khayat said hoping that the festival will attract a large number of participants. “This festival is part of a number of programs organized by JCCI and other government organizations,” said Khayat. The JCCI committee is encouraging Saudi businessmen to hire more handicapped employees and it has recently evolved a road map to involve them in all kinds of jobs. There are 500 million disabled persons – at least half of them are children – across the world. About 250,000 children lose their eyesight every year because of lack of Vitamin A, Khayat said. “Minister of Labor Ghazi Al-Gosaibi has encouraged the private sector to include four handicapped employees under the Saudiazation plan,” said Khayat. __
