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Bahrain Mobility International (BMI), that has been integrating people with disabilities into the community since 1979, is now pushing for more inclusivity in the workforce.
The not-for-profit organisation in Isa Town has been catering to the needs of the disabled for the past 42 years by educating little ones at its nursery, supporting aspiring para athletes, preparing members for job opportunities and providing free transportation and wheelchairs to those in need.
“However, there is still so much to be done in terms of inclusivity in the workplace,” said Adel Al Mutawa, BMI’s chairman of the board.
“The aim of our centre has always been to integrate those with special needs into the community. People are more aware now than back in the day when those with disabilities were confined to homes, didn’t have rights and were ignored or overlooked.
“We help them find their place in society. We have wheelchair-friendly buses. We also offer schooling for children with and without special needs at Azhar Al-Harak Nursery from kindergarten to second grade. We have fitness and health facilities offering natural healing and physical therapy, sometimes free to those who can’t afford it because everyone deserves help.
“We have been catering to our members’ needs during the pandemic as well. We have come up with plans and strategies to promote the rights of the disabled, starting with employment opportunities. We offer some part-time positions and some of the little ones, who studied with us as children, are now working with us while pursuing higher education at university. And while we do have some youngsters who are now bankers, secretaries and lawyers, we want to see more people with special needs in the workplace.”
Under article 11 of Bahrain’s Welfare, Rehabilitation and Employment of the Disabled Law, people with disabilities should make up at least two per cent of the workforce at any organisation with 50 employees or more.
“People are complaining that there are no jobs out there, so you can imagine what someone with a disability must be going through,” added Adel.
“That’s why we created areas on our grounds that will either keep people with disabilities busy, learning something new that they can perhaps use elsewhere, or help them start businesses of their own.”
There is a large farming area featuring an array of fruit and vegetables at the organisation’s premises. “We want to promote local farmers as it is a noble profession,” he said.
“We have 140 raspberry bushes where people from all walks of life are welcome to pick during the season.
“We also have chickens, geese and goats and caring for them has been beneficial mentally, emotionally and physically for our members, both young and old.”
The centre also started a fish farm and has been arming members with the tools needed to start their own.
There is a slab-making area for cemeteries, where workers mix and pour cement into frames and members with disabilities flatten it out before it solidifies.
The centre also has a plastic recycling machine that is operated by a person with special needs.
“People can drop off plastic items in a large container placed outside our gate,” said Adel, an award-winning para-athletic power lifter and wheelchair basketball player who has represented the kingdom in different competitions locally and abroad.
“The plastic is recycled and stored in our grounds until they are sold and the money is used to buy customised wheelchairs and provide aid.”
There are welding and carpentry workshops as well as a garage to make transportation wheelchair-friendly.
“Some organisations contact us to customise their buses or to purchase wheelchair lifts for them,” added Adel.
“We also offer free consultation to those needing wheelchairs or other modes for mobility. We provide temporary standard wheelchairs for free until they receive one.”
Active wheelchairs are designed to be an extension of one’s body and can range in price from BD350 to BD10,000.
“We have been blessed to have some generous donors who donate wheelchairs,” said Adel.
“Some provide us with funding to purchase wheelchairs. Funding is very important for us as we are a non-profit organisation. There are more than 12,000 disabled individuals in Bahrain and we do whatever we can to help them. We count on the kindness and generosity of the people to keep doing what we are doing.”
For details, follow @bmi_bahrain on Instagram.
