my work

hey! heres a piece i wrote for auc .. it was edited and published in caravn :)..


Determined to being independent and gaining access to equal opportunities, Abd El-Ghani Barakat , a freshmen at the American University in Cairo(AUC) with visual impairment , finds it hard to mobilize himself to the new campus.

After managing to live on his own in the U.S for a year, Barakat said he must work on his “independent self “on campus .Barakat finds that AUC lacks mobility experts.

Although the structure of the new campus was designed to accommodate people with health concerns or physical challenges, students find it excessively hard to move from one place to another.

But this isn’t what the associate dean of students in the counseling center, Mohammed Feteha, thinks.

"Students with visual impairments are being assisted by volunteers or paid students," said Feteha.

AUC can now accept students with visual impairments. The new campus infrastructure, like the parking lots and the rest rooms, is handicapped friendly, said Feteha.

Sherif Sadek, the transportation director, admitted that the campus lacks sufficient tools for movement.

“We still don’t have the capacity to facilitate the needs of each and every student”, said Sadek.

There are two passenger club carts and 20 cargo club carts. The rest of the club carts will arrive on October 24th for internal movement, while an AUC ambulance car will arrive in two weeks, said Sadek

As a response for how to use the carts in case of health emergency, students can dial 2222 on campus to request one, said Sadek.

Though AUC is still investigating the practicality of providing passenger carts as a service, said Sadek.

Feteha said it would be "dangerous" to use passenger carts to drive students with visual impairments. "There will be a need for reliable drivers."

Some students are being seen using their scooter or skate board to easily move.

Using skate boards can be dangerous since it's not assimilated in the culture and people may get bumped in, said Sadek.

Although the clinic has documented records of the cases were carts were used, there is still no structured plan to help those with permanent health issues.

General Ashraf Kamal, the security director, presented a proposal for the administration to have official lists for students with permanent health issues.

Kamal didn’t get a reply and doesn’t know when a coordinated plan will be implemented.

Faculty members had regulations on what gate to use in the beginning of the semester.

They were “stupid laws”, said Pakinam Askalani, a chemistry professor.

This made movement impossible since we had to enter from one gate then walk all across campus to reach our offices, said Askalani. Such laws were cancelled.

Askalani thinks she is "lucky" her office and classes are in the same area or else it would be a problem.

But this was not the case in the beginning.

“Movement was hard due to the hot weather and fasting in Ramadan,” said Askalani.

But what about students who aren’t lucky enough to have their classes in one area?

“I only have ten minutes to walk across campus from one class to another,” said Amr Abdrabo, a sophomore. "Some professors are tough when it comes to coming on time."

Problems were predicted to occur once the construction is done.

Ihbrahim Naser, an anthropology major, said it will be a “major problem” once the P.V.A building and the food court are ready.

Students will then have to walk double the distance to reach classes, said Naser.

The clinic emphasized the fact that carts are for emergency cases only.

Only when students face radical health concern, a gulf car will be sent, said the acting director of the medical department, Mohammed Amin Saad.

The most recent documented case for using the passenger cart was a student with a fracture on October 8. One of earlier cases was an eight month pregnant faculty member.