Phoenix Reflections

Stars walk the ramp:The Children of Al Noor Center

Come Friday and all the school bags, the briefcases and appointments are ditched, shoes kicked off to enter into the stress free party mode. After a long week of college stay backs and an anticipation of an even more hectic week ahead, my agenda was set. I call it the SEP: Sleep Eat and Party!

Shopping for giving

The Al Noor Training Center for Children with Special Needs organized its annual Fun Fair on the Friday (7/2/08) in its school premises. The event began at 10am and went on for the next twelve hours. Though I couldn’t be there for the entire event I did spend the entire evening in the aura of hundreds of humanitarians. With a mere entry ticket of Dhs. 2/- I was exposed to the buzzing of UAE citizens who not only had come to have a good time but to encourage and extend their support in any which way to the organization. The place was jam-packed and we had a hard time finding a parking spot as well.

The major crowd puller was the food court. With sponsors like Gazebo and Al Ghurair Foods, a booklet of coupons gave you access to a delectable continental spread. Moving away from the food court, towards the main ground was the bouncy castle that I so fancied as a kid. Being all of 20, as I was about to enter it, gazing stares got the better of me. So I decided to indulge in a little shopping therapy instead. A mini global village, almost everything was on sale. From shoes, clothes, jewellery to used books and tapes, toys all the way down to kitchen and bathroom usables. Pick up anything and you automatically aid the organizations cause. Never knew shopping could be charitable!

What I was most looking forward to was the fashion show that the announcer kept reminding the public about. “Please head to the auditorium at 7:00 for a fabulous fashion show by designer J. Yasmeen. Don’t forget!” At first it sounded like just another designer displaying her creations for which all proceeds would be given to Al Noor. But after repeated announcements, I resoled to attending it. And boy! I’m glad I did. Or else I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. As I entered the misty auditorium, it took me a couple of minutes to get adjusted to the lights and crowd around me. As my visibility cleared up, I noticed someone walking the ramp. Well the same old fashion show! Or was it? As I zoomed in through my camera (where spectacles don’t help, your camera forms an excellent extendable third eye) what caught my attention was that this regular fashion show had no regular models. These were special models.

Future super models

Models whose walk can make the Naomi Campbell’s, Heidi Klum’s and Tatiana Rosalino’s eat their shoes. The professionalism in these children with special needs blew me off my feet. And a volunteer told me it took these children only a month to prepare for this grand event. “This is the first time we have a fashion designer creating pieces for our children and we prepared them in a month for the show,” said Ms. P, a teacher at the Center. Kudos to them! As each child displayed the specially designed outfits the crowd cheered them, basking in the love the children exuded. At the end of the show all the children took to the center of the stage and were greeted with a standing ovation fueling their enthusiasm. The satisfaction that lined the visage of the teachers and volunteers spoke volumes of the hard work, their commitment and dedication to integrating Gods most precious creations into the society, which is so called the ‘normality’. I left the auditorium part dazed, part enlightened.

The excitement dancing in the kid’s eyes and the satisfaction on their faces was picture perfect paling those of Mona Lisa and Cleopatra. Earn all you can but this is one thing we all are, and will always be devoid of. With most of us caught up in stress and sleepless nights, their carefree spirit is the one think that cannot be stolen from them. A little time spent with or around them will make you realize that if normal is what you think you are, it’s delusional!