Mohammed tours Fujairah, meets citizens and students

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai,  visited on Wednesday the Centre for Rehabilitation of People with Special Needs of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Fujairah.

Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince, and a number of ministers.

He met a blind Emirati Salma Al Ka'abi, 37, a teacher at the centre, who overcame her disability to obtain a degree. Sheikh Mohammed commended her for perseverance to be useful for community, especially for the children with special needs.

Sheikh Mohammed walked into her workplace at the Rehabilitation Centre in Fujairah and hailed her resistance in life to achieve her ambitions.

Salma was born in Fujairah and could see until the age of four, but lost her power of sight due to an illness. She was sent to a school for the blind in Bahrain, where she studied 11 years before returning to UAE.

She continued her education in normal schools with the power of will and determination though the schools were reluctant in the beginning to consider admitting a blind student into normal stream.

Completing her school education Salma travelled to Egypt to continue her higher studies and graduated from university with distinction.

Returning to her homeland, she joined a centre for rehabilitation to teach science to blind students using the Braille script and cultivate confidence in their hearts.

Sheikh Mohammed called her an "example for every young Emirati citizen" and expressed his admiration for her insistence and determination.

He also commended her patriotism and her willingness to return to her homeland to join the national cadres and participate in the country's development process.

He addressed her saying: "Salma, you are an example not only for blind girls, but for all young people in the UAE in their ambition and their will and determination to succeed. I admire your spirit and your power.This is the spirit we want in all the youth in our country".

Sheikh Mohammed also visited the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) for Girls, where he was received by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and President of HCT, a number of officials and teaching staff.

He met  a number of students, who study at the newly created electronic engineering section.

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