JEDDAH, 7 September 2005 — The fourth annual summer festival for children with special needs drew to a close here yesterday. Over 1,350 children took part in the event, organized and mounted by Saudi Aramco.
The young participants in the event shared the fun with Nabeel Baashin, a manager of Aramco in the Western Province, leading figures in the field of child care, heads of charity organizations and heads of rehabilitation centers.
The children came from charity organizations, rehabilitation centers and orphanages around the region. The celebrations included gift giving, lectures on health and safety, an exhibition of children’s paintings and art works. A highlight for the young festival-goers was a visit for food and fun at Chuck E. Cheese where they enthusiastically mixed with the families already there.
In an address, Nabeel Baashin focused on the value of government-private partnerships in the field of childcare.
Successfully completing its fourth year running the event, Saudi Aramco has indicated that it now aims to increase its social participation and public service through events like this one.
“There are 65,000 children with special needs in Saudi Arabia,” claimed Dr. Zuheir Almaimany, head of a center for the handicapped in Jeddah. “It costs SR70,000 a year to take proper care of a single child with special needs. Donations,” he added, “keep us afloat.” He noted that mosques would soon make special arrangements for the handicapped.
Jalal A. Al-Khateeb of Saudi Aramco said the company has many similar public oriented programs including traffic and drug awareness programs, anti-smoking campaigns, as well as programs to provide food for the poor in Ramadan.
