Arab Deaf Week to feature lectures, camp, children's marathon

The 26th Arab Deaf Week begins here today under the theme "Caring for deaf children at a pre-school age". The Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services will run a programme of lectures, an open day, a camp and a marathon for children, a spokesman for the City said yesterday.

Most of the activities will involve participation by deaf and normal children together, as part of the efforts to integrate the disabled into the community. The programme will begin with a lecture for parents of the deaf children and the experts working with them. It will tackle ways of rehabilitating a deaf child with the help of hearing aids as well as the prevention of deafness.

An open day will be organised at Al Amal Kindergarten tomorrow (Sunday), where the deaf children enrolled at the city will take part along with normal children in a drawing workshop, contests and sports.

On Monday, the students will visit the Dubai Special Care Centre and Al Noor Centre. They will also meet a number of deaf employees, who have graduated from the City, at their workplace.

A basketball match will be organised later that day to teach the children the skills of the game. On Tuesday, the city will hold its Second Hope Camp for disabled children, which will also be open to other children from Sharjah schools.

A marathon will be staged on Wednesday for children under 12 years. Children from various handicapped centres in the country will take part in this marathon along with other children. The week will conclude with a trip to Al Mamzar Park in Dubai.