Coverage: Mahmoud Mansi
Photography: Hadeer El Masry
“We let them work into teams, and we even have an eye on the advanced learners and use them as mentors for the others. This way we also develop their leadership skills.”
Mirna Atteya – President of Rotaract Alexandria Cosmopolitan
World Down Syndrome Day – an event that has been organized in Alexandria, Egypt since 2009 – is not just a day in a year, it’s not just an annual event where awareness is increased and children having fun, but according to Rotaract Alexandria Cosmopolitan it became a monthly cause. That’s what Hassan Ragab – Rotaract Club Treasurer & Head of HRIS Department at the AASTMT – elaborated. He said, “After the event – as we have been doing for the last three years – we follow up with the children through their NGOs. Rotaract gets involved and invited by any event initiated by the NGOs. As for this year we initiated an action plan of making weekly visits to the NGOs since December 2015. We provide them with workshops to keep their minds alert and make sure they didn’t lose their talent. Today we have an exhibition now with the paintings that were produced in these workshops.”
The event has been organized in the academy for several years, and this started when one of the Ex-Presidents Mona Arslan made the deal with the Academy. Currently the AASTMT is even more aware of social responsibility thus it encourages this event to a great extent, and the green environment in the academy is very beneficial for the attendees.
Mirna Atteya – President of Rotaract Alexandria Cosmopolitan – explains the idea behind the event and the impact on the society, “The event is divided into two parts. The first one focuses on creating games to the participants. These games not only focus on developing their talents and expanding their creativity, but it teaches them teamwork. We let them work into teams, and we even have an eye on the advanced learners and use them as mentors for the others. This way we also develop their leadership skills. Another important aspect is we help them mingle with the society, on the other hand the volunteers learn how to deal with people having Down syndrome. The second half of the day is dedicated to the parents. Before the event we create a survey and understand what exactly are the points of weaknesses and what kind of skills and knowledge do parents need to understand more about. On that day we customize the material to best fit the parents’ needs.”
From an HR perspective Hassan Ragab explains further, “HR considers people as an asset or an intellectual capital for any organization. Being there for these very special people will help us as a society to identify a new asset that is not fully utilized yet. We give them the chance to discover and function their gifts. We also focus on the parents, because they are the ones who spend the whole day with, therefore we want the parents to fully understand and witness the gifts of their children so they can continuously develop them.”
The question that concerns us as HR Revolution is the existence of people with Down syndrome in the working environment. Hassan goes on, “I don’t think the employment rate among the Down syndrome community in Egypt is high at all, but I believe some companies do hire them in a casual way. From my observation and experience the Down syndrome are people with extreme creativity. They are very talented in coloring and anything that has to do with handcrafts. If organizations are able to find the smart approach to subject the unique talents of Down syndrome to their needs, these organizations will gain a lot of extra benefits.”
The slogan this year is: One Extra Chromosome, More Superpowers. Hassan explains, “These children – biologically wise – are actually created with an extra chromosome, while the average human being has 20 chromosomes.”
One of the main partners of this event is the renowned photography club: View Finders. The participation of the club’s members was not about documenting the day. They had another concern, another perspective, as Mohamed Rashad stated, “People in general care so much about seeing their own pictures. Children having Down syndrome love seeing their pictures that’s why we work on printing them on the same day of the event. Having their picture as a memorial means much more than only looking at their own image, it reminds and connects them with the victories they have achieved and the activities they have done.”
It’s clear that photography also works as a therapist to many people as Mohamed explains further, “Some of our guests refuse to take a picture. Maybe they are shy or they fear exposure. We talk to them. We show them pictures of their colleagues to encourage them. I discovered that photography deals with many psychological issues and brings a lot of positive energy to them.”
The day has been a great success to everyone.
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