ABU DHABI 20 July 2019: It takes a strong-will, skill, and precision to sew uniforms for thousands of government school pupils across the UAE, and it is remarkable to know that ‘People of Determination’ who have managed to achieve this.
In a sewing programme by the Zayed Higher Organisation (ZHO), young individuals with disabilities have been given an opportunity to be included within the UAE workforce, encouraging them to innovate, work diligently and contribute to developing the nation.
In an agreement signed with the UAE’s ministries of education and community development, the sewing programme ensures that private sector companies supplying government schools with uniforms will have to assign at least one percent of their contract work to ZHO’s sewing workshops of ‘People of Determination’, said Wam.
Some 100 individuals were trained to sew and provided with a working opportunity, sewing uniforms that have a special trademark logo – a bee – to show students their uniforms were made by ‘People of Determination’ attending the ZHO’s centres.
Bee Symbol
ZHO pupils, who truly work as organised ‘bees’, are involved across all stages of the uniform-making process, through the design of the uniform, to the creation of the pieces.
Mohammed Saif Al Arifi, Director of the Zayed Agricultural and Vocational Rehabilitation Centre in Abu Dhabi, highlights the UAE government’s emphasis on ensuring the integration and empowerment of persons with disabilities within the country, across multiple sectors.
He says that the ZHO, under the chairmanship of Sheikh Khalid bin Zayed Al Nahyan, provides services to ‘People of Determination’ to guarantee their inclusion within the wider community, via education, counseling, vocational training and sport activities.
ZHO students working in the design studio showed WAM the processes involved in the making of the uniforms. They emphasised their desires to become active members of the community, noting that their work can be trusted and is of a high-quality.
The Zayed Higher Organisation was first established in 2004. Currently there are 25 centres working with the ZHO to ensure the utmost care and integration strategies are provided to People of Determination.
