Indonesia's only Braille Koran gives faith to blind

JAKARTA, Oct 8 (Reuters Life!) - Reverently running their hands over copies of the Koran, students at an Indonesian religious school joyfully recite the holy book they cannot see and which few of them can afford. The Raudlatul Makfufin, a Jakarta foundation and boarding school for the blind, is the only place in Indonesia that prints a Braille version of the Koran, allowing the visually impaired in the world's most populous Muslim nation a deeper, and more personal understanding, of their faith. Most of Indonesia's blind are poor and cannot afford to buy a Braille Koran, which foundation officials said costs 1.2 million rupiah ($132) to print and which they distribute for free. The school is able to put out 90 books a day but the actual amount they produce depends on the generosity of the donations that the project relies on. "We depend on the other Muslims that care for their blind brothers and who want them to learn their faith from the true source, that of the Holy Koran," said foundation head Nur Kholiq. Many of the staff working on the project are also blind: they work the Braille machine that prints the book in a roll, tear the pages and arrange them in order for binding. The books are then checked for accuracy before they are packaged and sent around the country to those who need them. The Braille Koran is in Arabic, a language many Indonesians do not understand, but blind students said their joy at actually "reading" the book for themselves outweighed the difficulties. "Thank God, I now can read the entire Koran in Braille, I just have to improve my recitation," said Diah Rahmawati. The school's Koran recitation classes are especially popular during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, a time of piety when the faithful read the Koran and pray more often. The blind students sit in groups, taking turns at reciting. According to official statistics, there are 2.5 million blind people in Indonesia, a nation of 226 million. Some 85 percent of the total population are Muslims. - (8 Oct 2007)