Emirati teaches happiness lessons to 14,000 refugees
DUBAI — Over 14,000 war refugees living in Jordan and Lebanon have found new lease on happiness through the recently concluded training programmes conducted by the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) and its sister organisation, The Art of Living.
Spearheading one of the projects for over 15 years is Emirati lady Mawahib Al Shaibani, CEO of Art of Living, Gulf and Middle East. She also heads the IAHV’s Iraq chapter.
With International Tolerance Day to be marked on November 16, Al Shaibani shared her experience as an Emirati woman spreading the message of peace, humanity and happiness across the region. She has been focusing on refugees and internally displaced people for the last four years, besides holding programmes for juveniles and prisoners across the UAE.
Talking about peace and rehabilitation efforts and her own journey from being an investment banker managing money to managing traumatised minds, Al Shaibani said: “I am proud of my Emirati roots and the values we have imbibed as UAE nationals. Our country is home to over 176 different nationalities who live together peacefully and harmoniously, and that’s the message I want to spread to the world.”
Al Shaibani did the Art of Living courses herself, and when she met spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the IAHV and The Art of Living, he advised her to serve her people and help them celebrate life with the techniques she had learned. She has been doing so since 2001.
“There was no looking back from that day when I started my journey of spreading the message of peace and happiness across my region. I took a sabbatical to travel across Iraq, teaching the Art of Living Happiness programme, and what I saw there changed my life irrevocably.
“Since then, I have been working to provide trauma relief to refugees
What I saw in Iraq changed my life irrevocably. Since then I have been working to provide trauma relief to victims of war in Syria and Iraq, spreading the message of peace.” Mawahib Al Shaibani, CEO, Art of Living - Gulf and Middle East
and victims of war in Syria and Iraq,” Al Shaibani said.
Al Shaibani said the IAHV’s tailor-made programmes comprised numerous workshops in the region to help people cope with the trauma of war, loss of lives and possessions, and of being displaced.
Besides the youth, over 2,000 parents were also trained for healing, resilience and empowerment programmes in Jordan and Lebanon; so that they can provide support to their own children.