King orders plan to improve life in Jordan Valley town

AL MASHARE — Balqees, a physically disabled 2nd grader, says she does not only go to school to learn, but most importantly to make friendships and spend a good time with her friends.

The little girl enjoys painting and playing some sports with the rest of her 22 classmates at a school affiliated to Ashab Al Himam for the Persons with Disabilities located in Al Mashare, some 96 kilometres to the northwest of Amman, in the Northern Jordan Valley.

On Sunday, Balqees had a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“I am very happy today seeing and meeting with the King,” Balqees told The Jordan Times following a visit by His Majesty King Abdullah to the school as part of a visit to check on the conditions of residents of the town, where officials say disability rates are high.

“When I first came to the school, three years ago, I did not have any friends. I was shy, but later I made several friends and enjoy the good time I spend here,” Balqees said.

Amal Mrooj, a science teacher at the school, said it took her more than three months to be able to integrate Balqees with the rest of the classroom, where she is the only student with a disability.

“At the beginning it was also difficult for the other students to deal with her. There was fear and no clue about her condition. But after I explained her situation and a series of extracurricular activities that do not distinguish between the disabled and the others who are not disabled,” Mrooj told The Jordan Times after the Monarch toured the school and its facilities and met with schoolchildren and staff.

The school, which is run by the society, has 235 students of whom 10 are with disabilities.

The facility was established by 10 co-founders who themselves suffer from disabilities or whose children have disabilities, Adnan Kafrini, the society’s president, told The Jordan Times.

“There are more than 900 persons with disabilities in Al Mashare town and we came up with the idea to create this school to reduce the suffering of the persons with disability and their families,” Kafrini told The Jordan Times.

The school, which offers education up to the sixth grade, is in need for maintenance and the building is rented, he noted.

“We need a solar energy project to generate electricity because we cannot afford the high electricity bills. In our school, we focus on the integration of disabled students with the others and families and students alike have given a positive feedback,” Kafrini added.

After visiting the school, King Abdullah issued directives to provide the society and the school with their needs of equipment and wheelchairs as well as computers and toys for children.

His Majesty ordered conducting maintenance for the school to enable it to continue serving a larger segment of the local community.

During the visit to the town, the King visited a family of six members and checked on their conditions as two of the children suffer from disabilities and issued directives for building a house for the family and providing the necessary care to the children.

King Abdullah also ordered measures to improve the living conditions of the town’s residents and the quality of services.

This will include the establishment of a development centre for the support and the rehabilitation of the disabled persons to be built in line with state-of-the-art standards and to provide services in the near future.

His Majesty also directed officials to look into the conditions of the disabled in the town and provide them with necessary care and support through concerned institutions.

The Monarch also gave instructions for building 16 houses for the impoverished families in the town, carrying out maintenance on several houses.

King Abdullah also issued directives for drafting a comprehensive plan to realise sustainable development in the town and address challenges it faces, including unemployment through assessing available opportunities and optimally utilising resources in cooperation with local communities and elected local councils.