The year 2006 saw me being transferred from GEMS Modern Academy, Dubai to The Millennium School as Principal.
During the first month of my tenure at Millennium we decided to add a tag line to our crest, and ‘We Choose to Care’ was finalized keeping in mind the atmosphere of care and support found within the school.
One of the first few initiatives was the ‘Best Buddies Programme’ which we started in 2007 and which 6 years later, it has become something the entire school is involved in and proud about. The initiative involves integrating children with disabilities into mainstream schools with a view of developing lifelong bonds of friendship and camaraderie.
The Best Buddies is a programme designed ‘for the “heart’, ‘from the heart’ and ‘of the heart’. It is a programme that can be described as a “beautifully designed package of human emotions and sensitivities, gift wrapped with love”.
Affiliated to Best Buddies International, which is spearheaded by Antony Kennedy Shriver, it envisions a world where people with intellectual disabilities are successfully integrated into schools, workplaces and general communities.
As per the format of Best Buddies, pupils from mainstream school are partnered with another pupil from a Special Needs school. The role of a peer buddy is to simply be a friend.
For our students, many lessons of life are learnt - lessons of sensitivity, patience, tolerance and above all else, they realize that they have to, indeed, count their blessings!! It is no wonder then that the peer buddies have increased every year. Parents of special needs children are extremely grateful for the opportunity that the school provides to mingle with other children while our own parents are all praise for instilling good moral and citizenship values into our children. A lot of interest has been generated over the years and more integration is being seen between the buddy pairs of SAATHI, Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre and Manzil Centre for Challenged Individuals. The Best Buddies Adult Programme, conceptualized and initiated by the school also continues between the teachers of our school and special needs individuals employed in the U.A.E.
29thSeptember, 2010 saw the dawn of a new era at The Millennium School, Dubai. Going beyond the format and working towards “Making Inclusion a Reality” , the much-awaited Inclusion Programme commenced on this day and since then every Wednesday, on an average, 30 pupils and 15 teachers from The Manzil Center for Challenged Individuals spend the entire day in the school .Various activities such as art , music, dance, swimming, basketball etc are organized for them . The Manzil students, as well as their teachers, get the chance to experience mainstream school-life as they participate in the various activities scheduled for the day. A few pupils are placed in grades ranging from KG to grade 4 keeping in mind their mental capabilities. This programme which runs simultaneously focuses on development of social skills more than academics. From the happy reactions of the participants in this initiative, the school can truly be proud of the work it’s doing.
Many other events are organized under the Best Buddies Banner of the school, be it charity drives or creating awareness or reaching out to make a difference in which the pupils and teachers enthusiastically involve themselves.
An event held recently touched my heart and I was only more than willing to establish more such programmes and make them a regular feature. On 2ndFebruary, 2013, The Millennium School, along with Max Sports Academy and SAATHI, organized a cricket training session for Challenged Individuals. The chill in the air and rain didn’t deter the spirit of sportsmanship of any of the individuals. They were out there with their cricket gear, all set for a session of learning and fun. It was heartening to see pupils in their wheelchairs with a bat on their lap, all equipped to have a ball bowled to them - such was the enthusiasm!!!!!
We also have a special song, an original composition, composed by one of our teachers and sung by some of our students; a song, which when first performed, tugged at many heartstrings and moved many parents and teachers to tears. What clearly came through was that this song was composed from the heart and sung with soul.
You brought out a part of me I never knew I had…
You showed me the meaning of a friend……
The spirit in your eyes…..
An angel in disguise…..
Gave to me what I never had before…….
It is often said by people who mean well that working with children with special needs “requires the patience of a saint.” Not true. What it does require is human compassion — something more of us have than we seem ready to acknowledge. However, human compassion also demands a degree of understanding. It thrives on the ability to imagine oneself in the situation of another and to ask some very profound questions about life’s ways. Understanding is essential to providing good care. And it is this spirit that we hope to pass on to our students in a world that is losing its sensitivity. The growth in warmth and wisdom that we see in our students is what eventually provides the biggest reward.
The Best Buddies at The Millennium School is a movement that has brought a smile to many a face and has made a difference to many a life. While being a challenging programme, it is also rewarding in many aspects to see children on both sides of the fence grow and develop. Hats off to all our teachers also who take special care and make sacrifices in supporting us with this venture. We couldn’t have done it without them and also to all our students who take time out to spend a day at the mall with their peer buddies or support them in class. We are committed to see Best Buddies grow bigger and do better, for after all, EVERYBODY NEEDS A FRIEND!
Michael Guzder
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