Fatma puts a plastic cube on the LEGO block she is building. As she proudly adds the last piece, she turns to me and says, “Now can you take a picture of the building?” Nearby Abdul Mohsen, almost seven, in a bid for attention throws toys at Fatma. Fatma, Seraa, Laila and Abdul Mohsen are part of the small group being trained in a small project for handicapped children in Jeddah as part of the city’s 2001 festival.
The idea for the program started with a simple notion, says Ilham Harasani, the brain behind it. “Last year we worked with orphans in a recreational program.” The success of that project made Harasani, a major in child psychology, want to do more. “In the States, I studied how to deal with blind children. I did a course which made me feel there is something I can do which will benefit the children.”
Last year’s program included a group of orphans and children who lived with their parents. It taught them simple things such as drawing and singing. Last year’s success encouraged Harasani to take a more detailed look at the needs of handicapped children which she summarizes in two words: “Love and tenderness.”
A proposition was made to Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed and that got things started this year. Prince Abdul Majeed referred her to Muhammad Oboud Al-Amoudi who offered her a small apartment in the Jeddah InterContinental. Ilham’s team consists of three assistants, two of whom have specialized in teaching and dealing with handicapped children. The other employees are beginners who she hopes will acquire experience through working with their trained colleagues.
The program is divided into four parts: experiencing the environment, color, the difference between stationary objects and moving ones and the seasons of the year.
The children were chosen from Al-Noor Institute for the Blind as well as from other schools. The schools welcomed the idea of giving the children a summer activity that would teach them as well as entertain them.
The program concentrates on making the children comfortable and at ease with their surroundings, the environment and society. Lessons, games and day trips are the means of achieving those goals. “The children are so bright; they constantly amaze us. They are sensitive and they like their trainers which helps a great deal.”
The day trips give the children an opportunity to experience the outdoors and a social life outside their own circles. “We give them free space to move in without imposing our presence on them. The first trip was to an amusement park and their impressions made us feel that we had taken them a step closer to the outside world,” Harasani said.
Future trips will include a visit to the beach where swimming teachers will care for them in the water. Another trip will introduce them to the art of ice skating at the Bolshoi show in Jeddah.
An American institute for blind children monitors the program. The results of the daily activities are sent to the institute and the response will assist in making plans for future programs.
Yeldiz Jamal, an assistant trainer who has specialized in performance and movement for the handicapped, said that the activities help the children learn to work together and to produce a work that they took part in. “I work with music to help them visualize words and express the words in movement. They are intelligent and they have capabilities inside them which need to be brought out.”
At the end of the course, the children will have an exhibition of their work and a show in which they will all participate. “I think that the show is very important as a means of attracting people’s attention to the special needs of these children. Also, I must say that the timing of this program running along with the Jeddah festival is a golden opportunity to get as much attention as we can,” Jamal adds.
The activities are directed at two different groups, the blind and the orphaned. Each group is taught separately. Why the division? Harasani makes the point that blind children need a level of sensitive and considerate treatment that other children might not give. “We tried to mix both groups but it was hard and didn’t work.”
Funding and sponsoring are unfortunately missing. Harasani says clearly that whatever she is doing is individual effort and that she hopes to get attention and start a project to cater to the needs of handicapped children.
Her idea is both important and worthwhile and those who would benefit from it belong to a silent minority which, if trained, could become useful and productive members of society. This is only a first step but with proper definition and scientific guidance to the children’s needs as well as financial support, a simple idea could easily become a highly beneficial program.