Al Nour Wal Amal (Light & Hope) Association is an Egyptian non-governmental organization, with headquarters at 16 Abou Bakr El Seddik Street, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt.
The primary aim of Al Nour Wal Amal Association is to fulfill the rights of blind girls and women by providing them with free education, literacy programs, vocational training and job opportunities in order to develop their potentialities and their special abilities such as musical talents, to ensure their physical and psychological health and to allow them to develop their own identities and become self dependent integrated members of the society.
The Association was founded on 1 October 1954 by a group of volunteers working at the Red Crescent of the welfare of the blind headed by Mrs. Istiklal Radi, The Association first president.
Al Nour Wal Amal is a free boarding, educational institution, and a non-profit organization. Its members are as well as its officers are all volunteers. It opened its doors in 1957 to welcome 40 blind girls, of whom the school age children enrolled in the school, while the older children joined the vocational training program.
In 1961, Mrs. Radi had the idea to offer the girls a new way to express their feelings and emotions by teaching them music. The Music Institute was born. With the help of Dr.Samha El Kholy, Professor Emeritus and former Dean of Cairo Conservatoire, former President of the Academy of Arts, the Institute was established on am academic basis.
Today, the Association cares for 300 girls and women.
In the early 70s, a generous contractor added a new wing to the main building for the expansion of the activities of the vocational training programs. Later, a new floor was built over the new wing by a generous donor, to provide living facilities for those girls who live outside Cairo and who have completed their education or training.
In 1990, the Board of Directors, with Mrs. Malak El Cherbini as President, was able to obtain land in Nasr City for the expansion of the activities of the Association.
In 1997, the Association was granted Consultative with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the United Nations in recognition of what the Association had achieved in helping the blind.