It's the 30th of the month and Farooq Mohammad is brimming with excitement. This is the day he's been waiting for. As soon as the clock shows 4pm, he asks his workplace supervisor if he can leave, then races off to the finance department. Standing before the cashier, he grins broadly as he accepts his pay packet. Eagerly he opens it, and slowly begins to count the crisp banknotes.
His eyes are wide and it's obvious that he's relishing the feel of his salary. He counts all the notes once, then twice... then, finally, he hands over his wages to his mother Farhat, when he gets home from work.
"Yipee,'' says the 21-year-old, pumping the air. "I'm rich, I'm rich.'' It's clear Farooq, a former student of the Al Noor Training Centre for Children with Special Needs, and now an employee at Jotun Paints in Dubai, likes pay day. "It means I get some pocket money to spend on all the things I like, such as CDs.''
As a special-needs youth - he is moderately mentally challenged and has been diagnosed with learning disabilities and a speech impediment - his self-confidence has rocketed. "Farooq is absolutely overjoyed since he has started working at Jotun. Earning a salary is a big thing for him,'' says Farhat, 43.
Farooq was four when his parents, worried that he was not speaking properly, consulted a doctor, who diagnosed his condition. He was enrolled in Al Noor school the same year.
"We were truly shocked, although we had guessed there was something not right because he seemed to be doing things very slowly compared to other children his age,'' says his father, Shahid. "But once we accepted it, we decided we would give our son - just like our other children - all the help and support we could. He adjusted well to Al Noor."
Although he picked up a lot of life skills like learning how to make his bed properly, basic maths and how to interact with people, his parents worried about his future. "We knew that once he turned 18, he would have to leave Al Noor and we were not sure how we could keep him occupied,'' says Shahid.
When he was 19, Farooq did a few placement programmes at a hotel and a laundry where he learnt to fold towels and bedsheets, before receiving "some splendid news" from Al Noor.
"They called to tell us that they had found a placement for Farooq at Jotun Paints, building flat-pack cardboard boxes to store paint cans,'' recalls Shahid, 53.
Trine Finnevolden, general manager of Jotun Paints, and the woman behinda campaign to integrate special-needs children into her organisation, says the company decided to employ a special-needs person when she met with Al Noor's principal two years ago. But she points out the company has actually been working with Al Noor for close to ten years now.
"Part of our commitment to the school included donating paint to do up its walls. Two years ago, we decided to get our employees to paint the walls at Al Noor with bright colours of the rainbow and a smiling sun.
"It was at that time that I first discussed with the school's principal Isphana Khatib about placements of senior students in jobs in our company. A few months later, the school suggested Farooq would be available for a job based on his abilities, and after meeting him we promptly took him on board,'' she says.
Farooq's parents are relieved he has gained a degree of independence. "I am so happy that Farooq is a responsible employee and earning his own living,'' says Farhat.
Her husband agrees. "The job has made a tremendous impact on his self-esteem and confidence," says Shahid. "For Farhat and me, it's such a relief to see our son employed in an environment where people deeply care for him and respect him."
A typical day
Farooq's working day begins at 9.30am. His shift supervisor lets him know how many cartons are required for the day and he gets to work.
He has two breaks a day - a 15-minute tea break at 10.30 and an hour's lunch break at 1pm. By 5pm he has fulfilled the day's target and is ready to go home with Shahid, an architect at a private company in Jebel Ali, who comes by to pick up Farooq en route to their home in Al Ghusais.
"This has been Farooq's routine for the last two years and he is so much in love with his job that there has not been a single day when he took leave or reported sick," says Shahid. "It also makes his siblings Sobia, 23, a student of mechanical engineering at Heriot-Watt University, and Maqsood, 18, very proud of him. Maqsood is an undergraduate student at the University of Wollongong.''
Apart from boosting his self-confidence, the new job also means Farooq now has a large circle of friends. "My friends at work - Moiuddin, Kshitij, Umra Kamal, and Basheer Bhai - are so helpful and friendly and kind," says Farooq.
His colleagues love his innocence and sincerity. "Initially when Farooq joined we were apprehensive of how things would work out having an employee with special needs,'' says Sushant Salian, the human-resources manager at Jotun Paints. "However today I am happy to see his progress.
"Farooq is a diligent and dedicated young man who has picked up the job very well. He has made so many friends. We make sure that Farooq is never alone when at work. In our factory we only use water-based paints and Farooq is handling cartons where there is no room for him to handle anything that could be dangerous. But he's doing very well."
Neelima Vengsarkar, senior job coach atAl Noor's work placement department who has been Farooq's mentor, feels it is important for the community to find jobs for people like Farooq who have moderate mental and speech challenges. "Once you asses the skills of a student and find him a job suited to his skills, the placement is bound to be successful.
"It's our endeavour at Al Noor to place our students in jobs that are suited to their skill,'' says Neelima. "Ever since the job placement department opened at Al Noor in 1990, we have trained over 77 students for various vocations that are suited to their abilities.
"While many students have relocated, around 22 students from Al Noor found placements in different organisations in the UAE over the past eight years."
Structure of the programme
The work placement programme started by Al Noor in 1990 has prepared many of its students to transit smoothly from the school to an adult work environment.
It helps special-needs students who have reached 18 or 19 years of age to be integrated into society. The idea is to find work in corporate organisations that matches the skills of these students in a field that they are familiar with, says Neelima.
"After a student turns 18, we carry out an internal assessment to find out his strengths and weaknesses then we provide him with training for a year.
"We liaise with corporate organisations and have a list of jobs available for our students. Once we know of an opening in an organisation, we invite the company's representative to Al Noor, introduce him to our students, show him a documentary on the students and give him an orientation of our school.
"Next I visit the their workplace and verify the suitability of the position. Each student has different capabilities. We choose the candidate who fits best and proceed with paperwork and documentation. After the placement is carried out, I accompany the student to the workplace and continue the training on the job until such a time as I feel the student is independently able to carry out the job at hand. Then I slowly wean myself away from it.
"Our students are successfully employed in banks, schools, hotels, adventure tour companies and reputable international corporate houses. We effectively train them in office skills, provide them basic training in computers, faxing, photocopying, spiral binding and other skills that are usually required in all administrative departments of offices."
The work placement programme has been highly successful. "Our oldest work placement student is Jessila Hasmukhrai who has been employed for around seven years now at the Delhi Private School, Sharjah, as the assistant librarian,'' says Neelima proudly.
"Nine of our former students now workas employees at Al Noor, drawing regular salaries and getting the same benefits as any other employee.''
Mature and responsible
Shahid recalls the first time Farooq received his salary, he insisted that he wanted to buy three boxes of sweets - one for his colleagues at work, another for the teachers at Al Noor who so lovingly nurtured him, and the third for his family. "I felt so proud of him,'' says Shahid.
His sister Sobia says, "I am so happy thathe is holding down a job like any other responsible person. He loves it and it makes him so happy. In fact I think he likes it as much as he does his music.''
Farooq, who cannot always easily articulate his feelings, is clear about his passion for his job. "I am happy to come here every day. I love giving all the money to my mother. She gives me pocket money every month. After saving up, I was able to buy a laptop for myself on which I like watching movies of my favourite Bollywood stars, Salman Khan and Kajol," says the young man beaming.
Farooq is looking forward to his next pay day when he will get some pocket money to buy the latest Bollywood music CDs. "I love music. It makes me so happy,'' he says.
Making a difference
Who: Al Noor Training Centre for Children with Special Needs
What: Finding placements for its former students
Where: In companies in Dubai
