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A local community of differently abled people is set to stage a carnival on Saturday, November 22, coinciding with the opening of the group’s new centre.
Shahzaib’s Club House in Amwaj will now have a second space at Bahrain Mobility International in Isa Town.
The event will serve as the soft opening for the new venue.
“We decided to have the families take an active part by ‘decorating’ the centre to give them a sense of belonging,” club house founder and director Amena Shahrukh told GulfWeekly.
“We have planned gardening and painting activities to beautify the space, and there will be other entertainment too,” the Pakistani expatriate and special needs advocate added.
The fair, which is open to all, will feature sensory games for the club house’s children and young adults. There will be stalls selling handmade jewellery, baked goods, toys and household articles.
A first aid booth will also be set up and visitors can avail of free health check-ups.
While entry to the event is free, proceeds from vendor fees and sales will be used to fund therapy for the families – currently, there are close to 200.
“Our children will perform and the stage will be theirs,” Amena said.
“Our gardening activity will include planting organic produce like tomatoes, chillies, coriander and basil. We have an amazing kitchen with facilities where our children can take cooking and baking classes and even sell the goodies there.”
The Janabiya resident started the club house three years ago as an extension of her personal journey with her late son, Mohammed Shahzaib Lali, who was differently abled. He died of pneumonia at the age of 21.
What began as a vision has now grown into something bigger. Currently, the club house has close to 100 volunteers who work with individuals aged between two-and-a-half and 35 years.
Amena revealed that after the carnival, there are plans to renovate and redesign the centre to facilitate the club house’s many activities.
“We are planning to soon launch a project called Bloom. We want to turn the centre into a community hub for the families of special needs individuals,” she explained.
Since its inception, the platform’s programmes have advocated for inclusivity. Some of the ongoing initiatives include the Sparks newsletter, which is a resource pool of educational information and inspiring stories for differently-abled children and their families.
Earlier this year, an online comic series entitled The Special Squad was launched and featured real-life dialogues the children at the club house have had with their parents, teachers or others, encouraging empathy towards the differently abled.
For more information, follow @shahzaibsclubhouse on Instagram.
