Year of Giving
This year is marked as Year of
Giving by the UAE’s
President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to make a difference in the lives of people around us. UAE cabinate's website (https://uaecabinet.ae/en/year-of-giving) quoted, 'Giving is not limited to monetary donation, it is rather the difference we make in someone's life, in a society or in a Nation'. There are various
ways to make a difference and we would elaborate on one of
the ways to contribute to this initiative.
Instead of arranging extravagant birthday party me & my friend decided to
celebrate her daughter’s birthday with ‘Senses’ to mark our first Giving of the
year. Senses is a residential and day care facility for special needs, I had heard about
Senses but never been there. So picked my camera, few packets of chips to munch
with children. We drove via Jumeirah road and it took
us around 30 mins to reach, however it would take around 20 minutes via Shaikh
Zayed Road from Burdubai.
As soon as we reached, I could
feel my excitement level developing as I was going to meet these people for the
first time. I started adjusting the camera with the lights and took me sometime
to realize what was happening around. It was big hall in the entrance, good to accommodate 50 people easily and
chairs were kept there in the middle. The caregivers were patiently bringing our
guests of the event out of their rooms and making them sit in the designated
area. The age of the children varied between 7 years to 30years. Some were in
wheelchairs, some were reluctant to come out, grown up children were helping the
smaller ones, some caregivers were helping to put center table for the cake.
Soon after the party started, the
music was played and to our surprise the quietly sitting children on the chair
started dancing to the tunes as if they already know the songs by heart (which
was in Hindi). I knew they loved music irrespective of which language it was
played in. They just knew how to dance once the music was played.
Our Birthday girl & her
friends were equally surprised and confused as I was, they were little
reluctant to join guest children in beginning, but eventually every one stepped
in. This Made me realize that music is such a powerful tool to diminish the
differences and a good time is a good time regardless how individually unique
we are. Party and Music went on for about 20 minutes followed by Cake cutting
ceremony. Caregivers helped us distributing the food and took care of special
guests with so much love and affection.
While driving back I was thinking that, in our
ignorance we call these children disabled but they are not disabled, they are differently
abled. They might be different from us physically but I couldn’t find any
difference when we were all having good time. Just like us they wanted to enjoy
music, party and celebrate with us. Their expressive eyes said a lot to me that
day. The experience was truly unique and thought provoking.
As year 2017 is marked as Year of
Giving, I would encourage all the parents to celebrate your special day with
Senses. They have different options to suit the needs of all parents. We have
somehow taken the life for granted and it is good to once in a while to check
our grounds. Also it will teach our next generation to appreciate what we have
and be more accepting toward the differently abled. It made me realize that the
true happiness is in giving and that happiness comes back to you in different
and unexpected ways.
Contact Senses for monetary donations, volunteer for various activities, spend time with children, celebrate your special day with them or sponsor a child. Visit Senses;
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