A special responsibility

When the whole world has become so conscious about our environment, what about us? This is the basic belief behind this year's concert theme, 'Our World Our Responsibility', of Al Noor Training Centre for Children with Special Needs. It will be staged tomorrow and on Tuesday at the Centre's open-air auditorium.

Isphana Al Khatib, the director of the Centre, said: "Each unit of the Centre will stage a skit to highlight different aspects of what one can do to show one's environmental awareness and make a difference in the world. Due to lack of space and continuous demands from parents and supporters, we are staging the concert on two consecutive days, and it is open to all."

Besides providing an opportunity to display the abilities of these special needs children, the most remarkable thing about the event is the inclusion of all 210 children, which gives each child a feeling of accomplishment. The gains in speech and language skills and physical and cognitive abilities become apparent as they do their bit on stage. Every effort is made to utilise the full potential of each child. The scene will be set with colourful props, while the children sing and dance.

The Centre, which opened with only eight children in November 1989, has grown to accommodate the needs of 210 children. Besides providing training programmes for the physically and mentally challenged, slow-learners, autistic and hearing impaired children, the Centre has also started occupational therapy, where various training units such as carpentry, screen-printing, computers and sewing provide ample scope for the children to work on pre-vocational skills, with a view to future employment. Said Isphana: "Our main aim is to support the special needs children up to a point of functional integration into society and this concert is definitely going to highlight this."