Pilgrims return

Forty blind men and women from various societies in Bahrain returned back from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah (an Islamic pilgrimage).

The pilgrims were among the 10th batch sent annually by Friendship Society for the Blind to Mecca and Al Madinah Al Munawarah.
Society manager and treasurer Ali Haji said most of the pilgrims who were sent by the society were not able to travel on their own expense.
“Since money was an issue for most of those pilgrims, we stepped in and helped them with the expenses,” he said. “In addition to lack of cash, the blind find it almost impossible to perform Umrah with normal-sighted people because they can’t keep pace with them so we have sent along professional volunteers to help them with walking and moving around.”
Mr Haji said the trip was funded by Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Region Head His Excellency, Prince Mohammed bin Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
“Prince Mohammed has been financing all our Umrah trips.  He has been extremely generous with us and we are very thankful and grateful for him,” he added.
“Prince Mohammed has been donating BD3,000 every time we go for Umrah.”
This year, for the first time, GPIC also donated BD1,000. “I think it is a great step and should be followed by other companies in Bahrain,” said Mr Haji. “The society, located in Isa Town, caters to various needs of the blind in the country and the shortage of money is a huge obstacle for us, that is why we can use all the help we can get,” he said.
The batch included pilgrims from both Sunni and Shei’ah sects.
“We had pilgrims from both sects performing Umrah for many years now that it became a norm with us. They go along fine as brothers and sisters,” explained Mr Haji.
“They traveled to Mecca by bus. The journey took around 14 hours.”