Participants during a yoga session at the summer camp.
Doha, Qatar: A group of children and youth aged between five and 22 attended a summer camp conducted by HOPE Qatar Centre for Special Needs. They participated in structured activities and programmes that provided them the opportunity to learn new skills and to develop new abilities in a playful, entertaining, and engaging manner under the close watch of professional special educators and an interdisciplinary team of therapists including sports therapists, occupational therapists, behaviour therapists, physiotherapists, and speech therapists.
“This year’s camp is open to children and youth with special needs, their siblings, and friends, thereby making it a truly inclusive environment that can foster new bonds of friendship and connections that can be continued beyond the conclusion of the camp,” said acting head of HOPE Qatar Centre, Mamta Yash. “It also helps develop the social and emotional skills of the children. Most importantly it helps develop empathy and understanding among the children without special needs who can dispel their fear and apprehensions on how to interact and mingle with their differently abled peers” she added.
“The uniqueness of this camp comes in its inclusiveness and attempt towards social integration,” said Dr Rajeev Thomas, founder and managing director of HOPE Qatar Centre for Special Needs. “One of the greatest concerns of parents of children with disabilities is that their children do not have friends beyond their family and classmates in their special school. Today’s social set up does not provide much opportunities for these children to interact and engage with other regular children and youngsters of their age.”
The activities that were rolled out during the camp in July included Sensory Activities, Puppet Shows, Arts and Design Events, Yoga, Zumba, Painting, Professional Role Play, Cooking, Baking and a range of indoor and outdoor sports activities, all carefully curated to ensure social, emotional and communication skills of all participants irrespective of their range or levels of disabilities.
Apart from the much enjoyed ‘Bake N Eat’ session, the ‘Fire Fighter experience’ and the ‘HOPE Hospital’ experience gave the attendees first-hand experience into the activities of firefighters, doctors and nurses, as they involved in role play in mock environments specially set up for this purpose.
The second part of the summer camp will run during August with an open registration that provides parents various options ranging from a week to the full month, and is open to children and youth with disabilities, and those without disabilities.
