‘Our staff earn self-respect and fulfillment’

— It is the dedication and hard work of the staff that has turned the Zayed Agricultural Centre for Rehabilitation and Development into a successful venture employing more than 100 special needs people, said its director Mohamed Saif Al Areefi.

“They are not disabled. Many of them have great potential and we are amazed by their energy and enthusiasm in learning new skills,” Al Areefi told Khaleej Times. He said when the centre was established in 1994, it was a small venture on a two-hectare land with just seven students.

“Over the years, the centre has helped many special needs people earn self-respect and a sense of fulfillment in addition to offering them a source of livelihood,” said the director.

“Currently, we supply to three main supermarket chains in the UAE including Carrefour, Lulu and Cooperative societies. We are slowly trying to increase the market share of Al Khas products,” said Al Areefi who added in the same breath that the centre is not profit-driven.

“We want to raise awareness about our initiatives so that more people can come forward and support us.”

The farm currently draws more than 1,000 visitors every month. “We welcome members of the public and students so that they are aware of the project and support us by buying our products. It is also an inspiring story for many people,” said Al Areefi. The centre is also conducting exhibitions and participating in corporate events to show case the Al Khas brand of products.

“The idea is to give our students exposure to the world outside. My next objective is to get both public and private corporate entities to employ some of our students,” said the official.

“They are great assets of our nation, and in line with the vision of our great leaders, it our responsibility to invest in their potential and help the integrate with the mainstream society,” said Al Areefi.

A staff member carefully waters plants inside a greenhouse at the farm — which uses organic waste as fertilisers — run by the Zayed Agricultural Centre for Rehabilitation & Development.

A crew entirely made of women with special needs are in charge of packaging and stocking produce from the farm, before they are sent off for sale at the country’s supermarkets.

Vegetables like these farm-fresh tomatoes are grown by more than 100 men and women with autism and Down Syndrome.

A female staff sorts and cleans green chillies produced at the farm, before they are packaged and sent to the market.

Abdulla Al Hashmi (second from left), public relations and marketing officer for the Centre, with farm workers.

Staff at the farm’s quality control and testing centre are responsible evaluating the quality of its produce.