JEDDAH, 20 March 2005 — The Disabled Children’s Association (DCA) yesterday launched a national charity program to raise students’ awareness about the importance of charity work and to encourage them to support disabled students.

The program, entitled “Students’ Offerings,” has been established as a trust to which students will contribute with the income going to support disabled children at the DCA. The program’s slogan is “Excel in Goodness” and it will teach normal students about the types and causes of disabilities and how they may be prevented.

At a meeting last week with the principals of girls’ schools, Dr. Samia Binladin, the general director of the administration for girls’ education in Jeddah, called upon school administrators to cooperate in raising funds for the trust by campaigning in their schools. “Disabled children need both financial and moral support and it is our duty to teach normal students compassion for their fellows,” Dr. Samia said.

“While a normal child in elementary school costs SR7,200 annually, one in intermediate school costs SR8,250 and in secondary SR9,250, a disabled child costs SR80,000 because they also receive medical and rehabilitative care at the association,” she said.

The association suggested the idea to schools, colleges, universities and training institutions in the Kingdom and the campaign will last for three weeks. The money will be spent on completing construction projects in various regions; the first one in Riyadh, called Business Oasis, is already under construction and space for rent will be available in nine months.

“The charity trust project aims at providing long-term sources of income to cover the operating expenses of the association’s centers,” said Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism and the president of the board of directors of DCA, at a press conference in Riyadh last week. Six other projects will be constructed for each of the association’s centers which will expand finally into eight centers soon. A special committee for the trusts will supervise the program.

Prince Sultan also announced that another project, Prince Salman Center for Disability Research, will be launched at the same time.