From Denmark with love !!
During April too, Mrs
Merhej was invited to give a speech on Media and Disability at the
Shafallah Second International Forum on Disability, in Doha, Qatar,
where she presented, in front of an international audience, under the
patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Misnad , and
Mrs Cherie Blair, wife of ex-British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair,
some of the achievements of the Friends of the Disabled Association in the
context of promoting public awareness through the use of the media.
Locally, Idad School
hosted, for the third year, the Sante-Sud Training Session on Autism
from 23 till 28 of April, and one of our psychologists, Ms Pascale Sawaya,
participated in a Workshop on Psychological Assessment (Tests and
Methodology), organized by the Liban Test-Editions in Kaslik on 20-21 April.
On April 24, we were
honored by the visit of the Arab Scout Delegation who came to get
acquainted to Idad School, its mission, its services as well as the
students, and to discuss ways of collaboration in the future between our two
associations.
In May, and in spite
of the difficult security conditions in Lebanon, the Friends of the Disabled
Association held its fund-raising Brunch : thanks to the
gracious generosity and consideration of Mr Fuad Salha,
the Brunch was held on the beautiful premises of the Mechref Club on
the 4th of May, and was attended by around 300 ladies who greatly
contributed to the success of the event. As part of the entertainment
program, our students performed two lovely dances which were vividly cheered
by the guests. A small exhibition of Idad products from the vocational
training sections was held in parallel to the brunch, and here again, these
fine ladies exhibited their generosity!
Some of our guests enjoying the Brunch at Mechref Club
From May 9 till May 17, our
occupational therapist Ms Nesrine Abou-Jaoude, traveled to Amman, Jordan,
to participate in a Workshop on Sensory Integration, and upon her
return, she presented a detailed summary of the main activities of the
workshop and how to use these in the activities of daily living as well as
in a therapeutic setting in our program.
On May 10, Idad school
participated in the annual “Al-Sadr Bazaar” in the “Al-Saha”
restaurant (Beirut suburbs) with a stand of woodcrafts, mosaic work and
pastries prepared by our students.
Our promotion program for
public awareness included, this month, a visit by a large group of students
at the secondary level from “Ajyal Al Ghad” Highschool, accompanied
by their Director, who came to Idad to get acquainted to our programs at the
educational, vocational and therapeutic levels. Also, Mrs Merhej was invited
to deliver a speech on Working with Mental Disabilities at Idad School
at the American University of Beirut for a group of students
in clinical psychology. In her presentation, Mrs Merhej showed the
documentary-film on Idad School which raised many questions from the
audience.
The month of June,
unfortunately, was very unsecure in Lebanon…Many parents were afraid to send
their children to school, and we were not sure, like most of the schools in
Lebanon, whether it was safe to hold ordinary classes till the end of the
month. That is why we took the decision to close the school for the summer
holidays on the 15th of June, instead of the 30th.
However, and in spite of the increasing tension in the country, we did hold
our end-of-the-year ceremony under the theme “Arts Divers”
where each class presented a dancing performance or a small musical comedy
in front of parents and friends of the Association in our large auditorium
in a delightful atmosphere. The last dance of the show had a particular
impact on the audience since it dealt with a patriotic theme which brought
tears to everybody’s eyes…Watching all those incredible dancing and singing
talents in our students fills us with great hope for a better tomorrow and
we look with optimism at the coming new scholastic year…
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