Dubai: Hearty laughs and chuckles filled the air as engineering students at BITS Pilani Dubai Campus organised ‘Spectrum 2022 for Determined Ones’ for seven special needs schools that included Rashid Centre for People of Determination, SNF Special Needs Future Development Centre, Manzil Centre-Sharjah, Sharjah Autism Center, Awladouna Center, Senses Residential and Day Care For Special Needs, and TenderHeartsArena.
Making a comeback after two years, the event saw participation by 150 children and was organised by the Social and Environment Club of BPDC, focused on raising awareness about people of determination and creating an environment of social inclusivity.
Professor Dr M. Srinivasan, director of BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, said: “Spectrum 2022 has been an immensely successful and inspirational event as it helped achieve our purpose of bringing smiles on the faces of specially-abled students. We consider Spectrum 2022 to be the pinnacle and the embodiment of the values that we at BITS strive to instil in our community. This is the spirit of empathy, inclusiveness, celebration of diversity and giving back to the society. We will continue to host ‘Spectrum’ in the coming years as it provides us with an opportunity to interact with people of determination and experience the atmosphere of kindness and acceptance”.
The event was inaugurated by Srinivasan, Prof Dr Priti Bajpai, associate dean-Student Welfare, Dr Geetha Kannan, faculty in-charge, Social and Environment Club and Students’ committee.
Medals, goodie bags and certificates
The music club of BPDC opened the gala series of performances with a melodious song. Students from Rashid School also performed an entertaining dance number, followed by soulful recitation of a poem by children from Awladouna School.
The little ones from Senses School hopped on to the stage with their musical instruments and got everyone swaying to their tunes and foot tapping on the beats of bongo. The event housed fun corners for the guests such as balloon pits, face painting, indoor sports and much more. Medals, goodie bags and certificates of appreciation were handed over to the participants, making it all worth the effort. The crowd burst with joy as the children from Manzil School, SNF School and Senses School started dancing. The event culminated with Groove, the dance club run by BPDC.
‘Extraordinary atmosphere’
“It was truly an extraordinary atmosphere, where each one of us appreciated our differences as human beings and celebrated the power of humanity. These little kids have inspired us by their perseverance and courage. We are grateful to everyone who participated and made this event a reality. We thank all the schools who participated and put up excellent performances,” Kannan noted.
