Al Noor’s bigger mission: Create more champions for people of determination

Dubai - The move marks yet another step towards the country’s ongoing drive for inclusivity.

Al Noor Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities has officially changed its identity and status in a bid to better serve the UAE’s people of determination community.

Renamed Al Noor Rehabilitation and Welfare Association for People of Determination, the new approval will allow the legacy institution to broaden the scope of its services to include differently-abled adults up to the age of 35, as opposed to children with special needs alone.

The move marks yet another step towards the country’s ongoing drive for inclusivity.

“Historically, Al Noor has modelled itself as an ambassador for people of determination,” said director Ranjini Ramnath. “Our vision, since 2009, was to help individuals with disabilities achieve their highest potential.

“To this end, over the years, we have conducted several awareness campaigns to enlighten, educate and sensitise the community about the needs, abilities and aspirations of people of determination. The newly acquired status paves the way for Al Noor to not only realise its vision, but also work in close alignment with the UAE leaders’ endeavours towards inclusion.”

Among other initiatives, the association — which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year — will also formulate disability awareness and etiquette training for private and public sectors.

“The training module will include an introduction to UAE initiatives, appropriate terminologies, how to interact with specific disabilities and more,” explained Stephen Mathew, coordinator of research and trainings.

“The idea is to provide trainees in every industry the insight, change of perspective, and skillset to be a champion of integration and inclusion.”

While Al Noor has been engaged in providing assistive technology services to its students, it now also plans to open an Assistive Technology Centre to serve the UAE’s wider people of determination community as well as Dubai’s geriatric population.

Deepika Gopalarao, coordinator of rehabilitation services, noted that this would include everything from assessments, training of parents and caregivers, follow-ups and more.

The new identity will also see the institution move away from its former not-for-profit status with the launch of a branded retail concept called Smiles n Stuff that will showcase the abilities of the community.

“It will basically house all the products handcrafted by students and employees of determination at Al Noor,” said Mini Chandran, sustainability and community relations manager.

“The decision to make it a commercial entity comes with the intention to spread the word about how people of determination can become contributing citizens of the community.”

karen@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai