Brazil’s First Lady visits Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

Michelle de Paula Firmo Reinaldo Bolsonaro, the wife of the Brazilian President, commends the advanced level attained by Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services by progressing and keeping pace with the best global and technological practices in the education and training of persons with disabilities.

The First Lady highlighted that seeing students with disabilities in their classrooms emphasizes the city’s keenness and commitment towards them, their parents, and the community, and its leadership role in this field since 1979, as the city adopted their issues and rights.

During the visit, Michelle was informed of the progress of the educational, training, and pedagogical process. She interacted with persons with disabilities within their classrooms. She was introduced to the history of the city and its continuous leadership in advocacy, inclusion, and empowerment of persons with disabilities for 42 years.

In a meeting held by Bolsonaro, she interacts and engages with a group of students from the Al-Amal School for the Deaf in sign language. The discussion revolved around the ambitions, goals, and challenges of deaf people and how the city assisted them to continue their education, whether at school or university, and the limitless support provided to them by Sheikha Jameela Bint Mohammad Al Qasimi in all domains.

The First Lady of Brazil expresses her great interest in sign language and her insistence to learn it with personal efforts until she mastered it. When her husband took over the presidency of Brazil, she gave an entire speech in sign language, pointing that ten million deaf people live in Brazil and the country’s government works hard to support them and provide services to people with different disabilities.

In a nice gesture, Bolsanaro watched with the deaf students on her mobile phone the video of the speech she gave in sign language, as they also watched the Brazilian National Anthem translated into sign language.

Michelle Bolsanaro stated that for the first time in Brazilian history a wife of the president delivered her speech in sign language, as after the speech she received many requests from the audience about establishing a school that teaches the deaf academic and development skills so that they can communicate with various groups of society. This speech was the beginning of Brazil’s vision of supporting deaf people.

She pointed out that the services provided by the city to persons with disabilities are comparable in quality to the highest international levels and indicate the effort made for a better life for all, expressing her great happiness in the discussion with the city’s students and her desire to exchange experiences in the future.

Michelle said that it was a pleasure to engage with students in their classes, as I had the opportunity to learn more about the mechanisms of education and how to deal with people with disabilities by following international best practices.

The First Lady highly valued the city’s pioneering role to empower, advocate and include persons with disabilities, and its role in raising awareness, in order to provide the right image of persons with disabilities, also it works to integrate them into society and continuously improve their quality of life.

ERC, AL MASAOOD GROUP INK PACT: The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) and the Al Masaood Group signed a humanitarian and social cooperation agreement.

The agreement’s provisions define a cooperation and coordination framework between the two sides, which will help reinforce the UAE Social Responsibility Strategy and serve humanitarian issues and the ERC’s local and international initiatives.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi, ERC Secretary-General, and Ahmed Rahma Al Masaood, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Group.

The agreement stipulates the strengthening of cooperation between the two sides, which will achieve a milestone in the implementation of the ERC’s strategy and promote its humanitarian missions on a larger scale.

The agreement will also support humanitarian and social operations aimed at assisting beneficiaries, in line with the procedures and responsibilities of both parties and promote cooperation in spreading charitable values and raising public awareness.