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Ailyn Agonia
DOHA
Al Shafallah Center will build a new community centre for people with intellectual disabilities and autism aged above 21 years from part of the proceeds of the upcoming charity event Love Ball Arabia, the centre’s Director Laalei Abualfain said on Monday.
The Love Ball, the signature fundraising event created by Russian supermodel and philanthropist Natalia Vodianova in aid of her Naked Heart Foundation which helps children with special needs, is being hosted in the Middle East and in Qatar for the first time.
Love Ball Arabia will be held in partnership with Al Shafallah Centre and Qatar Museums as part of the Qatar-Russia Cultural exchange at the Museum of Islamic Art on March 29. Half of the proceeds from the event will go to Al Shafallah Centre while the other half will go to Naked Heart Foundation.
During the tour of the centre with the Ambassador of Qatar to Russia HE Fahad bin Mohammed al Attiyah and other officials of Al Shafallah, Abualfain said the new community centre is part of the expansion plans of the institution and will be established in the same grounds of Al Shafallah.
“The community centre will be under the centre’s management and serve not only the students and graduates of Al Shafallah, but all Qatari nationals and non-Qatari residents,” Abualfain added.
Since its inception in 1999, Al Shafallah has been providing exemplary education and rehabilitative services for special needs persons under 21 years old. Among its services is providing rehabilitation and training to prepare 16 to 12 years old boys and girls for employment. Currently, the centre has about 650 students in its main building.
Continuing the traditions of the previous Love Ball event held in London, Paris, Moscow and Monte Carlo, Love Ball Arabia is also expected to attract celebrities and high-profile figures. Among the expected guests at the charity gala in Doha are Belgian fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg and Italian singer-songwriter and supermodel Carla Bruni. Also in the line-up, but yet to be confirmed, are Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio and English supermodel Naomi Campbell.
Qatar’s ambassador to Russia said: “People with special needs are part of us. The Love Ball Arabia comes to mark the collaboration between Al Shafallah and Naked Heart Foundation and to enable society and the community at large to support these organisations in their mission to help special needs people. We have seen so much of talent today, which has inspired me personally and many of our colleagues to believe in their capabilities. All they need is support necessary to unleash that creative force in them. Any society will be measured and evaluated with what it does to that segment of society, and I think we have come today to see how Qatar has demonstrated leadership in this,” the envoy said.
DOHA
Al Shafallah Center will build a new community centre for people with intellectual disabilities and autism aged above 21 years from part of the proceeds of the upcoming charity event Love Ball Arabia, the centre’s Director Laalei Abualfain said on Monday.
The Love Ball, the signature fundraising event created by Russian supermodel and philanthropist Natalia Vodianova in aid of her Naked Heart Foundation which helps children with special needs, is being hosted in the Middle East and in Qatar for the first time.
Love Ball Arabia will be held in partnership with Al Shafallah Centre and Qatar Museums as part of the Qatar-Russia Cultural exchange at the Museum of Islamic Art on March 29. Half of the proceeds from the event will go to Al Shafallah Centre while the other half will go to Naked Heart Foundation.
During the tour of the centre with the Ambassador of Qatar to Russia HE Fahad bin Mohammed al Attiyah and other officials of Al Shafallah, Abualfain said the new community centre is part of the expansion plans of the institution and will be established in the same grounds of Al Shafallah.
“The community centre will be under the centre’s management and serve not only the students and graduates of Al Shafallah, but all Qatari nationals and non-Qatari residents,” Abualfain added.
Since its inception in 1999, Al Shafallah has been providing exemplary education and rehabilitative services for special needs persons under 21 years old. Among its services is providing rehabilitation and training to prepare 16 to 12 years old boys and girls for employment. Currently, the centre has about 650 students in its main building.
Continuing the traditions of the previous Love Ball event held in London, Paris, Moscow and Monte Carlo, Love Ball Arabia is also expected to attract celebrities and high-profile figures. Among the expected guests at the charity gala in Doha are Belgian fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg and Italian singer-songwriter and supermodel Carla Bruni. Also in the line-up, but yet to be confirmed, are Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio and English supermodel Naomi Campbell.
Qatar’s ambassador to Russia said: “People with special needs are part of us. The Love Ball Arabia comes to mark the collaboration between Al Shafallah and Naked Heart Foundation and to enable society and the community at large to support these organisations in their mission to help special needs people. We have seen so much of talent today, which has inspired me personally and many of our colleagues to believe in their capabilities. All they need is support necessary to unleash that creative force in them. Any society will be measured and evaluated with what it does to that segment of society, and I think we have come today to see how Qatar has demonstrated leadership in this,” the envoy said.
