In April 2004 an official Egyptian society was established and in November 2004 the centre started as an activity day centre where the children come to the centre in the morning, and go home in the afternoon. Children from the neighbourhood are picked up by car in the morning and delivered to their homes in the afternoon, so the children still live with their families. The aim of the service of the centre is to serve the welfare of the child with the learning difficulty, but also the welfare of the families and the local people.
At the moment the centre serves two groups of children:
• Children from 4 to 13 years old;
• Young people from 14 years.
4 to 13 years
In November the centre started with 2 small groups of children with learning difficulties, 3 teachers and one assistant teacher. During 2005 the aim is to expand to a maximum of 20 children split over 3 groups and 6 teachers. The children are taught different skills such as: motor skills, speech, self-care, social development, and cognitive skills. The aim is that children reach a certain independence concerning the basic skills.
14 years and older
After the summer of 2005 the Beautiful Oasis also hopes to start another project with one group of 6 young people with learning difficulties and 2 teachers. In El-Fayoum agriculture and livestock are very important sources of employment. The project aims to give the young people who are interested in working on a farm an opportunity to learn to work in the field so that they can get the chance to work in the future in their own family or village. Another aim is to teach the children to integrate better into their families and societies.
Agriculture
Vegetables are grown on the ground around the centre. Since this was originally a farm, this is in keeping with the environment. The ground can also be used for activities with the children. These activities aim to build on the children's experience, increase their learning and aid their development.
Remaining services
In other areas there are no experts available for children with learning difficulties so there are plans to see if there are possibilities to start at-home care, early development, physiotherapy, speech therapy, and would mean training several groups.
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