Journey of Hope raises trust among Down syndrome kids
By Kaushalendra Singh -
CARRYING a global message for children with Down syndrome and their families, the Journey of Hope touched Salalah waters five days ago and left for its final destination Washington DC on Monday. Starting from Kuwait’s Marina Crescent in Salmiya, the ship aims to cover 26,000 km in 7 months with stopovers on 39 ports in 19 countries.
Jassem al Reshaid, Team Leader of the journey, termed this to be a unique experiment for raising hope among the families having kids with Down syndrome and said: “The idea was conceived by a group of parents with successful experiences dealing with their mentally disabled children including those suffering from problems like Down syndrome, autism, learning difficulties and other related conditions. The group is working since 2003 under the title of ‘The special team for sporting, social, media and cultural activities dedicated to the mentally disabled’. We want to spread the message to one and all that every child is born with special abilities and it is our responsibility to give special attention to children with Down syndrome etc and bring them on the mainstream.”
The major objective of the journey is to create awareness about the extraordinary qualities of the mentally disabled people and their abilities to perform “heroic acts” none less than the common people.
“Through the Journey of Hope we want to spread a message to all the cultures and countries to do some collective effort to ensure social support for this segment of the society.
Also we strive to eliminate the elements of isolation of mentally disabled people and educate the masses on how the intellectually disabled could be integrated into the community for refining their skills and talents,” said Jassem, who along with his Down syndrome son Mishaal Jasem al Reshaid, is part of the “great Journey of Hope”.
Jassem finds many extraordinary qualities in his son. “He mixes with other crew members nicely. He is obedient and punctual. There are many tasks in day-to-day life which people with Down syndrome can easily handle.
This is our responsibility to involve them in sports and other related activities and we should try to save them from isolation. Such cases deteriorate if they are not attended carefully,” he said.
Similar were the opinion of Badi al Dosery, Deputy Team leader of the Journey of Hope. His Down syndrome son Khaled Badi al Dosery, is also part of the crew. “The effort, which started about nine years ago, really has positive impact on our family. Due to his interaction with people and involvement in all sorts of work, there is lots of improvement in my son and he is capable of handling many tasks as a normal human being.”
Team Leader Jassem said, by citing the examples of our own sons we want to spread the message loud and clear that the children with Down syndrome etc need our involvement with them, as number of such cases are on the rise. “We all should look at the issues involving birth of children with such disabilities.”
Journey of Hope, which has the blessings of the Kuwaiti government, has made several films involving children with autism, learning difficulties and Down syndrome. “It is amazing to watch their performances in the films. Some of them are very good painters, designers and many of them aptly handle secretarial jobs,” said Jassem.
Journey of Hope aspires to assist parents overcoming difficulties in dealing with their mentally challenged children. This includes support to deal with the shock and psychological impact faced by parents after having a newborn with such disability.
Jassem and his team of 16 people are to reach Special Olympics headquarters Washington DC on July 28. The reason behind choosing Washington DC as Journey of Hope’s final destination is to promote sports among Down syndrome children. Journey of Hope crew members were given a send off by the officials of Social Welfare and Office of the Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar.
Tuesday 20th, May 2014 / 21:43 Written by
CARRYING a global message for children with Down syndrome and their families, the Journey of Hope touched Salalah waters five days ago and left for its final destination Washington DC on Monday. Starting from Kuwait’s Marina Crescent in Salmiya, the ship aims to cover 26,000 km in 7 months with stopovers on 39 ports in 19 countries.
Jassem al Reshaid, Team Leader of the journey, termed this to be a unique experiment for raising hope among the families having kids with Down syndrome and said: “The idea was conceived by a group of parents with successful experiences dealing with their mentally disabled children including those suffering from problems like Down syndrome, autism, learning difficulties and other related conditions. The group is working since 2003 under the title of ‘The special team for sporting, social, media and cultural activities dedicated to the mentally disabled’. We want to spread the message to one and all that every child is born with special abilities and it is our responsibility to give special attention to children with Down syndrome etc and bring them on the mainstream.”
The major objective of the journey is to create awareness about the extraordinary qualities of the mentally disabled people and their abilities to perform “heroic acts” none less than the common people.
“Through the Journey of Hope we want to spread a message to all the cultures and countries to do some collective effort to ensure social support for this segment of the society.
Also we strive to eliminate the elements of isolation of mentally disabled people and educate the masses on how the intellectually disabled could be integrated into the community for refining their skills and talents,” said Jassem, who along with his Down syndrome son Mishaal Jasem al Reshaid, is part of the “great Journey of Hope”.
Jassem finds many extraordinary qualities in his son. “He mixes with other crew members nicely. He is obedient and punctual. There are many tasks in day-to-day life which people with Down syndrome can easily handle.
This is our responsibility to involve them in sports and other related activities and we should try to save them from isolation. Such cases deteriorate if they are not attended carefully,” he said.
Similar were the opinion of Badi al Dosery, Deputy Team leader of the Journey of Hope. His Down syndrome son Khaled Badi al Dosery, is also part of the crew. “The effort, which started about nine years ago, really has positive impact on our family. Due to his interaction with people and involvement in all sorts of work, there is lots of improvement in my son and he is capable of handling many tasks as a normal human being.”
Team Leader Jassem said, by citing the examples of our own sons we want to spread the message loud and clear that the children with Down syndrome etc need our involvement with them, as number of such cases are on the rise. “We all should look at the issues involving birth of children with such disabilities.”
Journey of Hope, which has the blessings of the Kuwaiti government, has made several films involving children with autism, learning difficulties and Down syndrome. “It is amazing to watch their performances in the films. Some of them are very good painters, designers and many of them aptly handle secretarial jobs,” said Jassem.
Journey of Hope aspires to assist parents overcoming difficulties in dealing with their mentally challenged children. This includes support to deal with the shock and psychological impact faced by parents after having a newborn with such disability.
Jassem and his team of 16 people are to reach Special Olympics headquarters Washington DC on July 28. The reason behind choosing Washington DC as Journey of Hope’s final destination is to promote sports among Down syndrome children. Journey of Hope crew members were given a send off by the officials of Social Welfare and Office of the Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar.
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