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Mrs Universe Dubai organises a lady's luncheon to support the Special Needs Future (SNF) development centre
Pamala Serena Rull, Mrs Universe Dubai 2021 and the ambassador for peace organised a ladies' lunch for over 120 elite ladies of Dubai at the Taj Exotica Palm Jumeirah to create awareness of special needs.
Among these influential ladies, Bubbles Kandari and the singer Shweta Subhan, famous for her title song, jalebi baby, also attended the lunch supporting the cause.
Rull was dressed up in a beautiful gown by Dar Sara Fashion, Dubai, wearing her crown and sash for the children and young adults.
The lunch was a great success and the young adults performed a dance routine they prepared weeks beforehand. Rull also organised a small fashion show.
There were raffles, games and great entertainment throughout the lunch and each attendee was given a beautiful gift bag to take home.
Rull strongly believes in equality and says: “We are all equal and every person should have the right to live a normal life.”
She further adds: “There are many centres that accommodate people with special needs until graduation but what happens to them after graduation? They stay home and lose routine, have no activities, and fall into depression staying home. SNF is a centre for young adults that still have a place to go after graduation and that’s important that every person can continue to have a normal routine”
SNF is a specialised learning development and training facility in Dubai that provides individualised training programmes and support to young adults with special needs. The centre stresses the need to work together with students, parents, therapists, teachers, learning support professionals, and the greater Dubai community to maximise each student’s full potential. SNF was established in April 2007 to provide a dedicated place to help young adults with special needs to facilitate their lifelong learning and development.
Today, the centre caters to 34 students, from the age of 14 and above, who are offered professional and personalised care for their overall development. As the only centre in Dubai that provides training to young adults with special needs without restricting the age limit, SNF aims to integrate as many young adults with special needs into the workforce. We have a wide range of special needs training programmes, including behaviour modification, speech therapy, special education, reading and writing, art and computer, and recreational activities. The centre has a variety of specialists from various disciplines: special educators, therapists, and volunteers. Therapists specialise in speech, occupational, vocational, education, and physiotherapy.
The centre fills a vital void in the special needs community by accepting students after they ‘graduate’ from other special needs schools. They also help students achieve their full physical and mental potential, easing integration into the workplace and the larger community. The centre works with young adults who suffer from mild variations of special needs. Students must retain mobility and must be physically independent. The strong volunteer base of more than 1500 members, including teenagers, young adults, and retired school teachers, among others help organise classroom activities and field trips and coordinate events amongst other duties.
Students at the centre are taught to master daily tasks like ironing, how to make their beds, folding laundry, brushing their teeth, cleaning the kitchen, and using a computer. It has a well-equipped gym and specialised exercise programmes to assist with mobility limitations. It also organises outings in the local community to urge students to participate in social activities.
The centre’s mission is to create a support network for families of individuals with special needs by offering psychological, emotional, social, educational, and vocational guidance. It encourages students to prepare for job placements in the UAE. Students have received on-the-job training at offices such as Clifford Chance, a leading international law firm, The One, and Jenny Flowers and have received employment opportunities at organisations such as Splash, Daga Life Sciences, Citymax Hotels, in the vocational department of the Center.
What started in 2003 as a support group became the SNF development centre in 2007. It has evolved into a fully staffed development centre spread across 16 rooms with 38 students, 15 teachers, and 10 assisting employees. The centre caters to all students from 14 years of age without restricting the upper age limit. Safia Bari, founder of SNF has painstakingly built the centre to excel in integrating individuals with special needs into mainstream society as self-reliant and enthused individuals. The endeavour is to identify the emotional and social needs of each individual and provide them with opportunities to achieve their maximum potential to integrate into the world around them. The focus is also to make them self-reliant through therapy, practical training in daily living skills, and an educational plan designed to suit their abilities and needs.
Bari came to Dubai in the early 80s and began her career as a school teacher. Her life changed drastically when her first daughter Nusrat was diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy. She took a long to understand that her daughter had special needs and needed to be treated differently. A life-changing moment occurred when Bari chanced upon meeting a parent at her daughter’s school who had twins with special needs and were visibly more difficult to manage than Nusrat. Even then the mother of those twins appeared to be so happy and content that Bari was motivated and was put into deep introspection. She remembered the quote, 'I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a person who had no feet'. It marked a turning point in her life and she realised how important it was to be thankful to the almighty for what he had given to each, of her instead of cribbing and complaining about what he had not. She realised that children with special needs were blessed ones who lived their lives without prejudice, jealousy or evil intent. They were amongst the purest of thought and if given a chance would only spread joy and happiness around.
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