101 Ideas Launches

Award launched to honour top 101 ideas celebrating ‘Year of Zayed’

By Jamil Khan | ABU DHABI

A new award has been launched to recognise and honour the best ideas of celebrations carried out as part of the year-long ‘Year of Zayed’ activities. The award will recognise the top 101 ideas next month.
The award was launched by Shaikh Khalifa Bin Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan, Chairman of Private Department of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan, in a press conference held in Abu Dhabi.
It was attended by Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Khalifa Bin Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan, Second Vice President of ‘Wajeb’ Volunteering Association, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Society and Abdul Jalil Abdul Rahman Al Balooki, Managing Director of the Special Department of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan.
Abdul Jalil Abdul Rahman Al Balooki said that the president announced the 2018 as Year of Zayed to celebrate the centennial of the birth of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. “We are proud to announce the initiative of ‘101 Ideas’ as part of the celebrations to honour individuals, organisations and government departments who celebrated the ‘Year of Zayed’ in a great manner,” he said.
He further said that the initiative is aimed at giving recognition to 100 best initiatives carried out during the Year of Zayed. As part of this initiative, we will honour all those who contributed to the celebration of our exceptional leader,” he said.
Mansour Ishaq Sulaiman, Director General of the “101 Ideas” initiative, expressed his gratitude to Sheikh Khalifa Bin Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan, who undertook to translate these values into reality. “The initiatives and events that were held in celebration of the Year of Zayed have always been very important, not only in the number and touching of all fields, but also the initiative “101 Ideas” to honour the best 100 extraordinary celebration ideas.
To further highlight the details of the nomination process, he pointed that the evaluation process will be carried out immediately after Jan 06, 2019 till Jan 14, 2019. The winners will be announced in a press conference to be held on Jan 15, 2019.
Omar Tahboub, Editor-in-Chief of Faselah.net expressed his gratitude to Shaikh Khalifa Bin Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan, Chairman of Private Department of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan and said, “This initiative has proven that late Sheikh Zayed is a source of inspiration even after his departure. He was the man who embraced the world with his love.”
-Published At The Gulf Today

Rashid Centre Board Meets

AI for people of determination at centre

By Jamil Khan | DUBAI

The Board of Directors of Rashid Centre for the People of Determination held a meeting to discuss a number of decisions including governmental support to ensure sustainability of the Centre and its future, formation of Executive Board for the Board of Directors, continuing the cooperation with governmental departments, holding regular meetings and drafting internal system for the centre while specifying its general standards, controls and frameworks.
The meeting was attended by Juma Bin Maktoum Al-Maktoum, the Managing Director of the Centre, Ahmed Hashim Khouri, Founder of the Centre, Mariam Othman, General Manager, Sultan Saqr Alsuwaidi, Mohamed Baqr, Mohamed Abdeljaleel Musbih, George Bushara and Paras Chadaburi.
Ahmed Hashim Khouri has extended the greetings of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Airline Group, Chairman of Board of Directors of Rashid Centre for the Determined Ones. He also extended support of the Chairman of Board of Directors to this ‘historical’…
-Published At The Gulf Today

Sharjah Falconers Club Championship

More join falconers’ contest
By Jamil Khan | SHARJAH

The number of participants in the Sharjah Falconers Club Championship – (Telwah) has increased to 30 per cent compared to last year which is a huge success. The 3-day event is being attending by young falconers as young as 4 years old to seniors belong to different segments of the society but bound by one passion to demonstrate the finest falcons in the country’s heritage sport.
The 3-day championship held by Sharjah Falconers Club Championship under the patronage of Sheikh Saqr Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Sports Council, the Sharjah Falconers Club Championship – Telwah (the lure) is organised and supervised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC).
Abdulaziz Bin Sultan Al Ali, Head of the Organising Committee of the Sharjah Falconers Club Championship, told The Gulf Today on the sidelines of the event, “The number would have further increased, but another huge competition is going on at the same time in Abu Dhabi where many falconers from Eastern Emirates have been participating but we noticed around 120 new entries from as young as 4-year-old to senior Emiratis this year.”
He added that the Sharjah Falconers Club in its 2 years has been playing a vital role to facilitate the young passionate falconers by holding lectures, training and other facilities aiming to promote the Emirati culture among the young generation.
The Sharjah championship will be followed by the Fazza Championship for Falconry Telwah from January 2-16, 2019 and the third edition of Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi Championship in Ajman on January 26, 2019, followed y Fakhr Al Ajyal from 1st to 16th February 2019.
Souad Ibrahim Darwish, Director of Championships at HHC, added, “With each year, falconry has become more popular in the UAE. Once an integral part of Bedouin life, falconry has evolved into a highly skilled sport, with high rewards for those adept at training their birds of prey. Fazza Falconry tournaments began in Dubai almost two decades ago, and have spread across Fujairah, Sharjah and Ajman.”
“One of the many achievements of the HHC has been to raise awareness among the general public about heritage sports, including falconry – and we look forward to more success and championships in the coming months,” she added.
-Published At The Gulf Today

Alissar Flowers-Rashid Centre

Students attend florist workshop in ‘Year of Zayed’ initiative

By Jamil Khan | DUBAI

As part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative in line with the celebration of Year of Zayed, the students of Rashid Centre for the Determined Ones have been given a one-of-its-kind training workshop
In this regard, a group of students at the Rashid Centre have teamed up with luxury florist Alissar Flowers to design a unique collection of gift boxes that are currently on sale online through the florist’s website. For each gift purchased, Alissar Flowers will donate part of the proceeds to the Rashid Centre, helping it to further support those who visit the Centre.
As part of the workshop, the group of 10 students were invited to the Alissar outlet at Four Seasons Dubai to learn the art of floristry with the brand’s expert team of florists, in an activity perfectly suited to the artistic bunch.
It is also mentioned that the year of 2018 marks the 100 years since the birth of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE. To commemorate this historic national occasion, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, declared 2018 as the Year of Zayed.
Alissar Flowers, worldwide leaders in the floristry industry, launched in Jordan in 1979 and have been creating memorable displays for nearly 40 years.
Moreover, as part of the ongoing celebrations of the UAE 47th National Day, prominent businessmen and showbiz personalities visited the Rashid Centre to take part in different activities.
Recently, a prominent businessman, Muhannad Al Masri, visited the centre and inspected its different sections. He appreciated the services and rehabilitation services being offered to the students by highly trained staff.
Famous Jordanian singer Zain Awad also visited the Rashid Centre and reviewed the art performances of the students, especially from the Art Section, where the Rashid Stars danced to her hit songs. Mariam Othman, Director General of Rashid Centre, vowed that the visit of prominent personalities from different sectors of society has been a great moral support towards the people of determination.
-Published At The Gulf Today

Winter Fair 2018

By Jamil Khan | DUBAI

Scores of families from different nationalities and individuals from various sectors attended the day-long Winter Fair 2018 to extend their profound support towards the people of determination.
The Winter Fair 2018 included a number of activities for children and families and was organised by Rashid Centre for the Determined Ones in its premises on Saturday.
The students from the vocational training departments including art, embroidery, carpentry, gardening and others set up their stalls to display their products.
The visitors not only bought these things but also encouraged them on their skills.
A number of patrons also set up their stalls for clothes, makeup, fashion accessories and others as part of the fair.
Mariam Othman, Director General of Rashid Centre along with a group of patrons opened the fair and helped visitors tour the centre and also appreciated the children.
Rashid Centre held a public art exhibition in cooperation with Avaya, which auctioned paintings produced by Rashid Centre’s students in order to raise funds for the school, with proceeds going towards the tuition of the students. The paintings were shown at the Avaya Partner Summit 2019 held in Dubai.
In line with the UAE government’s steps to empower people of determination, the Rashid Centre provides quality education and therapy services to children with special needs. As a global communications provider, Avaya also supports efforts to create a more inclusive society.
-Published At The Gulf Today

Interview: Fatma Khalid

Expert underlines importance of ‘early identification’ for children

By Jamil Khan | SHARJAH

An expert in special needs education has observed that ‘early identification’ of young children has been one of the best tools to identify their abilities and special talents and most importantly through monitoring a child’s unique talents and nurture those skills through differentiated instruction.

This was stated by Fatma Khalid, Director, Blue Bird Nursery, in an interview with The Gulf Today. The nursery was established in 2016 as an educational organisation and currently has two branches in Nadd Al Hammar and Dubai South. It has embarked on an early intervention programme that includes regular evaluations to identify children’s abilities and special talents.
Her educational background includes teacher training from Cambridge University (UK), coaching and mentoring Graydin Ltd (UK) and Masters in Educational Leadership in Middlesex University. She is also a candidate for the NPQSL with UCL Institute of Education (UK).
“The unique aspect of this process is the ‘early identification’ which is done from the age of 4 months. Children are constantly being monitored to measure developmental milestones which can include hearing, motor skills and visual impairments that can be difficult to identify early on in a child’s life. The process is conducted by practitioners where each child is observed in different settings to determine and assess progress,” she said.
The process is the active collaboration between parents, practitioners and therapists which provides a triangulated support system unique to early years’ establishment.
“Our practitioners are trained and qualified in using the developmental milestones and follow a typical growth chart as a benchmark whilst understanding every child’s unique development. The evaluation process determines a child’s developmental stage and consequently record any delays which are then shared with guardians, parents and ultimately child psychologists,” she said.
Shedding light on the unique standard practice in the Blue Bird nurseries she said that the main objective of this programme is the early identification and intervention. “We have received a significant number of children whose delays and unique talents have gone unidentified which has then affected their progress immensely in later years. Our focus is to achieve the understanding and ability to build awareness on providing specific resources and instruction designed for children with unique abilities and supplementary needs even as early as four months.”
She also underlined the need for awareness especially in early years and nurseries that the first five years of a child’s life are crucial and any developmental delays or talents that are missed can impact a child’s performance in the long term.
She pointed since initiating this programme parents’ response has been really positive and most of them have been appreciative of the teachers’ effort in recognising delays and providing intervention in collaboration with the therapists and psychologists.
We need to place special focus on including ‘people of determination’ and design instructions and facilities that cater and accommodate for their specific needs. Focus should also be driven in recognising special talents or gifts and nurture these through support and collaboration of different institutions in arts and technology.
“Our goals include creating awareness about special ‘early’ years programmes that foster creativity and innovation even in the early years as talents and special skills can be identified as early as the ages of 1-2 years.” She added.
The Community Development Authority (CDA) has been extending immense support in providing intervention and discussing strategies with our practitioners.
She further added that leaders in education need to stay grounded in a higher moral purpose, dedicating their vision and goals to enriching children’s lives, constantly embark on a journey of discovering and developing pedagogy suited and appropriate for all learners ensuring that every child is given equal opportunity to grow and succeed in life. When we all stand for the child no one will be left behind.
-Published At The Gulf Today

‘UAE-Pakrelations on right track’

By Jamil Khan | DUBAI

The current government has been formalising a comprehensive policy to benefit overseas Pakistanis and soon it will be launched. This was stated by Asad Qaiser, Speaker of the National Assembly, Pakistan during an interaction with the community at the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai.

He assured that the current government led by Imran Khan was working tirelessly to improve overall conditions in the country, from legislation to create more job opportunities and soon a package with more benefits would be launched to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.

The event was organised by the Embassy of Pakistan and Pakistan…

-PublishedAt The Gulf Today