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| Participants at the Vodafone Qatar programme |
The turnout over the weekend was impressive. The event featured a ceremony with the presence of a keynote speaker Dr Saif al-Hajari and a number of Vodafone representatives. “We believe in creating a world of difference to everyone in Qatar throughout our sponsored programme of ‘World of difference’.
“Throughout freestyle aquatics we encourage people with special needs and empower them to be more active in the community as well as engage in activities that can be good for their physical and mental well-being and through which they can build friendships and a support system that could enable them to enjoy an active and happy life,” said Maryam al-Khalaf, public relations manager,
Vodafone Qatar.
Participants, both from within Qatar and from abroad, experienced a varied combination of diving and swimming techniques, specifically created for the physically challenged. One has to have instructor-level diving certification with specialisation in the area of disabled diving/swimming to be able to teach and lead the disabled in the water.
Instructors, to augment the effective delivery of the event were brought in from Switzerland and the United States. Thus far, the programme has garnered a tremendous amount of appreciation from institutions like Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs and Al Noor Institute for the blind, in addition to all the individuals who have individually experienced the benefits of the programme.
The programme, almost a year ago, won a grant from Vodafone-Qatar to deliver experiences through aquatics and become a catalyst of hope for the physically disabled. Since Vodafone’s World of Difference in the run-up to the year-end, all funds that have supported freestyle aquatics, as an accomplished corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, are said to be
exhausted.
Freestyle aquatics is the only adaptive aquatics programme of its kind in Qatar and offers its participants a range of benefits to improve mental, physical and social health. It has also been dubbed to be a ‘Life
Changing Experience.’
The primary team comprises director of Freestyle Aquatics and head coach Kathleen Bates, business operations specialist Taha Qureshi, swimming coach Jojo Musa and operations co-ordinator Muhaibbah Karim. The primary volunteers comprises Claire Elliott, Seema Vinod, Francis Bates, Simone Anderson, instructors from Switzerland Tom and Nina Wyssenbach - and disabled diver from Oman Marhoon al-Ghafri.
The sponsors are Vodafone Qatar, American School of Doha and Ezdan Hotel & Suites.