RIYADH, 26 October 2005 — The chairman of the Shoura Council, Dr. Saleh Bin-Humaid, pledged his support for the activities of the Islamic Center for the Physically Handicapped (ICPH) when he met a delegation from Colombo this week.
A two-member delegation headed by the life president of the ICPH, Jiffrey Haniffa met Bin-Humaid with his country’s Ambassador A.M.J. Sadiq at the Shoura Council in the capital. “This is an organization that deserves the support of the people in the Kingdom,” said Bin-Humaid during the meeting. Bin-Humaid accepted an invitation from the ICPH president to visit the center.
Haniffa also held talks with Dr. Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the Muslim World League (MWL) on Monday to discuss how the two organizations could work together in helping the handicapped Muslim children in the island.
The ICPH which has 250 students on its rolls, is the only center for Muslim handicapped children in the island that runs on public funds. Besides organizations such as London Muslim Aid and Muslim Care, the center is also being supported by countries such as Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada, Germany, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The Ministry of Endowments in Kuwait has built a three-story complex while Canada Relief Development Organization has funded the first stage of the girls hostel and its completion needs another $20,000
“The center trains handicapped Muslim children in several fields of vocation such as tailoring, printing, gem cutting, home science and information technology,” Haniffa told Arab News, adding that the students who pass out from this center are absorbed by the public and private sectors. The students have excelled in public examinations and one student has become one of the top ten students at the Grade Five Scholarship Examination conducted by the government of Sri Lanka in May this year, the president said.
Haniffa pointed out that the government pays the salaries of the teachers while the inmates’ food expenses of $200 per day have to be looked after by the center. “We are looking for funds to start an income generating project so that the center would run on its own,” Haniffa added. He recalled that the center was built on land donated by the Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation in 1985. The MWL, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and Iqra Charitable Society help the center from time to time, he added.
Presently the inmates of the center include blind, deaf and dumb, and other physically handicapped children. He said the center also accommodates a large number of mentally retarded children as day scholars.
“We would like to have these children as residents at the center provided we get adequate funds to run a separate wing for them,” he said, adding that such a project would cost some $100,000.
