‘Al Wafa for Capacity Devt’ organises 20th ‘Sanabel Al-Mahaba’

Al Wafa School for Capacity Development has been keen to organise the festival since 1998 with the aim of achieving the principle of community partnership through the contribution of community members in supporting the education and empowerment of people with intellectual disabilities and providing modern means and technologies according to the best international practices in the field of special education.

Before "Covid 19", Sanabel Al-Mahaba was a periodic activity, the brainchild of Mona Abdul Karim Al Yafie, Director of the SCHS, to support students of the school formerly known as "Institute of Intellectual Education" and their families, and to implement programmes that contribute to developing communication skills and stimulating the growth of their language.

Sanabel Al-Mahaba is an annual activity that includes many recreational activities, the proceeds of which are for the benefit of developing school programmes for persons with disabilities. In addition, it invites community members to learn about the services offered to those persons and contribute to their support through material donations and moral support.

This year’s edition of the festival, and due to the current circumstances, the school decided, in the interest of the safety and security of students and their workers, that the activities be limited to virtual visits by a specific number of students with intellectual disabilities, school staff and some volunteers to some cooperating institutions and companies.

In this special edition, the school will organise an electronic market in which the products of clothing, household appliances and others will be offered for sale via the Internet.

Dr. Samia Mohamed Saleh, the Headmistress of the School, confirmed that the school sets a main goal in addition to the general goals for each edition to achieve, and it has accomplished many of these goals, over the past years.

Headmistress of of Al-Wafa School confirmed that the proceeds of Sanabel Al-Mahaba, since the academic year 2004-2005 until the academic year 2019-2020, amounted to AED2,188,824, which were fully employed to achieve the festival's objectives as much as possible.

The school's role was not limited to providing educational and rehabilitation services only, but it worked to provide all curative, health and rights services to students. It also worked on developing adaptive and societal skills for students with intellectual disabilities through the principle of self-advocacy, and provided family awareness services through parents’ councils.

Dr. Samia thanked partners and sponsors of the festival who have contributed to its success over the past years. She also called on businessmen and company owners to support and sponsor "Sanabel Al Mahabba" in its new edition in January 2021, and to contribute to developing the services provided to students with disabilities in accordance with international best practices.