Views of a blind woman who has to fight against many clichés
"What we blind people hear is sometimes unbelievable. The other day, someone admired me because I walked down a flight of stairs," says Hacer Savas, shaking her head. "No problem," she replied, "I have healthy legs." The 31-year-old is incredibly quick-witted and takes her disability in her stride. That's why it was always important for the young woman from Marl to have a normal job. Savas has been working at AMEVIDA for two and a half years now, advising mobile phone customers and optimizing their contracts. Five days a week for eight hours - highly concentrated, and with a lot of technology to support her in her work.
AMEVIDA is the call center giant with headquarters in Gelsenkirchen and six other locations in NRW.
With around 2,260 employees, the company is one of the leading providers of customer care services in Germany.
Which means: good old customer service.
People with various disabilities work at all seven locations - wheelchair users, blind people and people with amputations.
Employers with at least 20 jobs must fill at least five percent of these positions with severely disabled people, as required by law.
Otherwise a compensatory levy is due.
"Many employers are literally buying themselves free," says an annoyed Hacer Savas.
AMEVIDA currently employs 120 people with a disability.
However, it is also clear that AMEVIDA has to equip some of the workstations where severely disabled people work with special and expensive technology.
"We need a number of unusual aids - depending on the disability," explains Marco Scheibe, the representative for severely disabled employees at the sites in Gelsenkirchen and Bochum.
"For Ms. Savas, for example, the writing on the screen has to be converted into speech, and a computer voice then reads everything out to her."
The whole process is incredibly fast and very precise.
The passionate rider doesn't just have a normal keyboard in front of her - there is also a Braille display with special software underneath.
This is an output device for the blind that displays letters and numbers in Braille.
The smartphone, which is equipped with voice software, also always provides support.
Hacer Savas' fingers flit nimbly from one keyboard to the next as she works, and the viewer can only marvel.
But the young woman is definitely not looking for admiration.
"It's all a question of practice," she says with a smile.
However, her desire for a more demanding job in the company is a real challenge.
The path to this has already been paved for her with a number of training courses and further education.
But it requires a lot of work and time.
But Savas is certain: "Thanks to the appreciation I receive every day from my colleagues and our team, I can do it all."
