The majlis: Campaign helps to change the way people view children with Down syndrome

Meera Al Daheri on what she has learnt and taught others through having a brother with a disability

My 7-year-old brother Abdullah Al Daheri has Down syndrome. Before he was born, like many people in the UAE, my family didn’t really know what Down syndrome was.

One day, when Abdullah was about a year old, I took him to Khalifa Park in Abu Dhabi. Standing in front of us was a teenage Emirati boy, who also had Down syndrome. He was trying to explain to a woman and her daughters that exercise is good for your body. The lady gave him a strange look and ushered her daughters away. This happened right in front of me, with my brother next to me. I looked at him and thought: “Oh no, this is what will happen to Abdullah too when he gets older.” I didn’t like it at all. I don’t want this to happen to any child with Down syndrome. I don’t know why she acted like this, but I think it was ignorance.

It gave me the idea to start an awareness campaign to educate society about what Down syndrome is and to provide support to the families of kids with Down syndrome. I realised that families in the UAE don’t know what to do with their Down syndrome children – sometimes they feel awkward and they don’t want to take them out of the house.

In 2014, when I was about to graduate with a degree in graphic design from Zayed University, I started the “Don’t Let Me Down” campaign as my graduation project. I realised that as a graphic designer, I could change the way that society thinks about Down syndrome.

I started by holding an art workshop for Down syndrome children. I approached one special needs centre and told them about my idea, but they said: “No, children with Down syndrome can’t hold a pen, so they won’t be able to paint a painting.” I was shocked because this was a place where they should be educating these children.

I didn’t want to give up, so I tried another centre – the Future Rehabilitation Centre in Mohammed bin Zayed. They showed me some masterpieces made by the children in their centre and they allowed me to hold my art workshop there. I ended up with 25 beautiful paintings by children with Down syndrome. With these artworks, I created a merchandising line of T-shirts, hoodies, postcards and the like. I held a small exhibition in Abu Dhabi’s Khalidiyah Mall and the proceeds from the sale of these items went back to the Future Rehabilitation Centre.

People who came to the exhibition were surprised to find out that people with Down syndrome can paint. Some parents of children with Down syndrome came to the exhibition without their child, because they were too shy to bring them to the mall. But when they saw the paintings and they saw my brother and other Down syndrome children there, they returned with their children. That made me feel as though I was bringing about a little change within the families. Now, more than 100 families have registered with the Don’t Let Me Down campaign.

In the past, there wasn’t much information available about Down syndrome in Arabic and some of the information that was in the public domain wasn’t correct. I decided to talk to different therapists and doctors, and write a blog, www.3bdallaaah.ae, to give people the right information. I was presented with the Arab Social Media Influencers Award for best blog in 2015 by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. I also created an Instagram account for Abdullah, @3bdallaaah, which now has more than 40,000 followers.

Unfortunately some families still feel ashamed to take their Down syndrome child outside the house. Even when I do art workshops, they won’t get their children involved. I’m still working on changing their thinking.

I want to see more Down syndrome children out in the parks playing with the other children and at regular schools, too. Abdullah was the first child with special needs to be accepted at his school, which opened the doors for other children with Down syndrome attending his school. I want to spread the message that people with Down syndrome can work and lead a normal life. We share more similarities with them than differences. Like most children, Abdullah enjoys painting, reading books, acting, sharing and playing with people.

In the past, when I used to go to the mall with Abdullah, people would stare at him with negative expressions. People with Down syndrome can have a little difficulty speaking and I felt that people would look down on the way he talks. Alhamdulillah, the reaction from most people now when they meet Abdullah is more positive.

* As told to Jessica Hill

Meera Al Dhaheri, 26, lives in Abu Dhabi and runs the awareness campaign, Don’t Let Me Down, to promote a positive image of people with Down syndrome in the UAE.