Won’t let their disability be a disability of life, empowering themselves

Efforts are on to involve people with Down’s syndrome in the local job market, according to the director of the Centre for Down Syndrome Care Dr Mohammed Abdul Karim Mannai. Statistics provided by the Centre reveals nearly 1,500 people, of different ages, in Bahrain, suffer from Down’s syndrome. A new milestone project aimed at involving them in the banking sector, supermarkets and salons is on the way. People with Down’s syndrome have proven their capability to undertake other jobs rather than just being in the field of agriculture, painting and simple jobs, he asserted. The new programme sets a probationary period of one year to assure that the rights of both employers and employees are guaranteed and to give people with Down’s syndrome the chance to prove what they are capable of performing at their new workplaces.With patients ranging from the age of one to 56, the society plays a dual role in supporting those with Down’s syndrome.

Established in 1998, the Bahrain Down syndrome Society, first of its kind in the GCC, caters to the social and developmental needs of those with Down’s syndrome through educational and physical activities. Their efforts have been supported prominently by the Government while private sector also offers some help and support.The society currently has all hands on deck with their new milestone project dedicated to paving a salient path for those with Down’s syndrome with regard to their career.