By MOHAMMED OSMAN
DOHA: A Qatari youth has challenged his blindness to launch his own website through hard work and self-determination.
Saleh Al Kuwari, a secondary school graduate, is now managing the al-jaras.net dedicated for online advertisement for selling and buying of cars and real estate properties. The portal offers buyers and sellers free advertisement for properties on sale or for hire.
“I launched the website to take advantage of the online advertising market which is growing worldwide in general and in the GCC states in particular,” Al Kuwari told this daily yesterday.
He said developing a website was not an easy task for him, with no formal training in this field.
Using Braille Sense, an electronic note taker specially designed for the blind and visually impaired, he managed to access and read several websites and newspapers.
“I worked two years searching different websites and reading newspapers. It was really hard in the beginning. I started with simple designs and simple online programmes,” Said Al Kuwari.
Hard work and dedication paid dividends. “Now I feel comfortable and I am able to manage the portal,” he added.
The website has three main sections — one for vehicles, one for real estate properties and an additional section for advertising job vacancies.
It also offers free advertisements for furniture, decoration and interior design services, among others.
“Online classified advertisements are becoming popular because they are accessible any time from any location. They are competing with used car agencies and newspaper advertisements,” said Al Kuwari (pictured).
He said he wanted to meet the needs of people on one platform through the website. “I will make all services in the website available in English and Arabic soon. A large section of our population uses languages other than Arabic but these two languages are the most common in use,” said Al Kuwari.
He believes that disability does not necessarily hinder someone from doing things. “The important thing is that the person should have the determination to do something and depend on his creativity and abilities. People should try and nothing is impossible.”
Buoyed by the success of his experiment, Al Kuwari is thinking about launching an online newspaper though he has no experience in the field. “I am looking for an opportunity to get some training in journalism,” he said.
He said his website is in early stage and to compete with commercial portals he needed support from big companies in the local market. “Without support from some shareholding companies it will not be easy to continue and compete with other established advertising websites.”
He said he was happy and proud to become a model for people with disabilities. “But to achieve this, I need to prove my capability to compete and succeed.”
The Peninsula
