Sami suffers from mirror dyslexia and a depressive condition called bipolar disorder. Before he joined the Creative Learning Center last autumn, Sami had nowhere to go, having been expelled from school after school. But a year at the centre has worked wonders. Today, Sami, aged 14, is able to multiply and read books for fifth graders (a year ago he could hardly read or write). Another pupil, Hamid, who is autistic, has also come on leaps and bounds, and is now able to sit still for ten or 15 minutes where once he couldn’t manage longer than two seconds.
The Creative Learning Center has improved the quality of these boys’ lives; suddenly their future looks better than before, though it might not remain so - if the centre fails to find funds, it may be forced to close.Education in place of prejudice “The thing is that there is no place for these children if we have to close,” says Kawthar al Hadhrami, chief executive manager of the centre, which provides special education for children with special needs. “We need someone to step up and say, we’ll pay the fees for these many children. We were hoping to be able to rely on donations. We are asking for them now.” Since the centre opened last year, donations and volunteers have been elusive, which possibly reflects society’s tendency to discriminate against children with special needs. During her association with the centre, Kawthar has encountered vehement prejudice. “I’ve had people ring and make, ‘These children are better off dead’ kinds of comments.”
The centre and what it does: The Creative Learning Center teaches children aged 3 to 21 with Down’s syndrome, autism and other learning difficulties. The first such privately owned centre in the sultanate, it opened on November 10, 2007, and has since provided a service that is unavailable elsewhere. To date this admirable venture has encountered just one problem - a lack of funds. Without an injection of cash it may soon have to close, thereby shutting out children who have nowhere else to go. Kawthar’s motivation to set up the centre came in part from her own son, who has special needs. “There was nothing here for him,” she said, nor for other children like him - many of the pupils now enrolled were formerly restricted to staying at home. The centre allows them to interact with other people.Teaching varies according to the needs of each child; young autistic children for instance need to be taught basic skills (how to eat and sit still and so on); whereas other pupils might be taught to read and write. Some may be eligible to study for a high school diploma - the Creative Learning Center is affiliated to an umbrella institution high school in the US. Kawthar says that she currently has four pupils aged 20 whom she intends to enrol in the autumn on a high school vocational course. It is important that these men learn to work, she points out, because children cannot depend on their parents once the older generation dies.
The centre is also valuable in that it offers parents a form of release.According to Kawthar, parents of children with special needs are often worn out and suffering from sleep deprivation - the centre effectively gives them a break.“One Pakistani man brought his child to us and he was crying,” she recalls. His distress was perhaps in part an expression of relief; with a monthly salary of RO120, he is unable to afford the educational fees, but the centre asks him only for half his child’s bus fare. The problem: fees, wages, volunteers and rent This man’s case is not unique - Kawthar says that last year she had ten children who were not paying and some paid half fees. Herein lies the rub. The Creative Learning Center needs funds to continue to be able to subsidise children whose parents are unable to pay. Kawthar needs volunteers as well, to bolster her 20 members of staff. Last academic year she had 44 pupils, and at least another 40 are already on the list for next term, which starts on September 13. “Before this I owned a primary school in Al Hail and we never had a problem getting volunteers there. But a school like this, which finds it harder, thrives and depends on volunteers.”
The centre’s financial situation is dire: one of its three partners took out a loan on his house in order to fund it, and they have now missed two loan repayments. Rent on the villa in which the centre is housed is also pending (it must be paid six months in advance) and the landlord is threatening eviction.“
It’s funny because the mosque in my hometown now wants to do a fundraiser event to help the centre,” says American-born Kawthar, who has lived in Oman for 18 years. “I can get people in the US to organise something to help, but I cannot get people in Oman to help this centre or these children.”To donate to the Creative Learning Center, call 96635730 or 95307344, or email information@clc-oman.com
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