MBC Group opens its eyes to the blind

The MBC on-screen promotional campaign will help EBSAR's members 'see hope everywhere' - the very motto of the MBC Group.

"From Ray Charles to Stevie Wonder; from Andrea Bocelli to Taha Hussein, highly talented visually impaired people have contributed greatly to the pleasure we take from this world," says Mazen Hayek, MBC Group Director of Marketing, PR and Commercial.

"Supporting EBSAR is for MBC Group a small, yet symbolic contribution to help visually impaired people continue their education and careers, and live full, rich lives- the ultimate objective being to actively encourage opportunities for them in society with the added benefit of positively impacting the alarming illiteracy rates in the Arab world, " comments Hayek.

Mohammed Bellow, General Manager of EBSAR, comments, "Vision impairment- ranging from total blindness to low vision ability- affects more than 3 million people in the Arab world and prevents many from participating in mainstream education and employment. EBSAR is pleased to partner with MBC to help remove the barriers that many face and to empower blind and partially sighted people of all ages."

EBSAR Foundation captured MBC's attention through a segment aired on "Sabah Al-Arabiya", the morning show of the leading Al Arabiya news channel. The segment highlighted the work of the visually impaired Foundation staff in editing and producing a specialized magazine for the sighted. "That was an ultimate expression of hope." We felt compelled to move from 'seeing hope everywhere' to help create hope somewhere" concluded Hayek.

MBC's millions of viewers - from Mashreq to Maghreb - will have the opportunity, via a cross channel campaign and an associated independent call centre and donation line, to contribute to EBSAR's noble cause.