[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Makkah's DCA... an important charity" ids="97802,97806,97803,97804,97805"] By Badea Abu Al-Naja Saudi Gazette MAKKAH's Disabled Children's Association is one of the city's most important charities, playing a constructive role in the lives of those with special needs. The Association's main location is in Al-Awali area on land donated by Sheikh Abdul Rahman Faqih, while businessman Sheikh Saleh Serafi furnished and equipped the center. Director of the association, Solaf Hijazi, said that the center accepted Saudi applicants from Makkah under the age of 12 with physical or mental disabilities. The Center includes a medical section with advisory clinics and physical therapy units, including facilities for speech and occupational therapy. In addition, there are support services, including a social service and medical psychiatric unit and a medical pool. An educational section includes facilities for children as young as two. There are also extracurricular activities, including Qur'an memorization, painting, drawing and the arts. The laboratory is equipped with computer systems for people with special needs. There is also housing available for employees, and includes residential buildings consists of two floors with 14 housing units. A nurse is allocated to every child, and the center aims at working to accommodate the largest number of children with disabilities in Makkah. Children can enter for a period of six weeks and are then sent home with a training system to follow so that their parents can continue treatment at home.
