Doha

Capital of Qatar/ Two-day visit to Qatar at the World Summit for innovation in education and visit to a centre for autistic and motor-disabled youth, and to the Foundation of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bin Nasser Al Misnad (17 and 18 November 2009)

17 November, 2009, over one thousand participants and journalists from 120 countries attended the party held at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha for the award ceremony of the first edition of the Wise Summit (World Innovation Summit for Education). At the table of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah, the event’s host, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy met Irina Bokova, the new Director-General of UNESCO.
On the next morning Carla Bruni-Sarkozy visited the Shafallah centre, accompanied by its president Hassan Ali bin Ali.   Founded in 2006, the centre caters for children with behavioural difficulties, especially children suffering from autism.   In a white-walled room emblazoned with paintings done by the children, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy spent an hour and a half hearing about the centre’s activities.   Named after a wild flower that grows in the Arabian desert,  Shafallah provides a home for some 520 children from their earliest years up until school-leaving.  Looking after them are a similar number of doctors and therapists. The rehabilitation section comprises a games room for psychosensory stimulation, as well as a swimming-pool and a music room.  It is universally recognised that music has a positive influence on developing language and concentration, as well as hearing and movement. A group of youngsters from the centre performed a selection of Qatari and English songs.   She then visited the Shafallah centre’s renowned genetic research service, where in a projet coordinated with the Necker hospital in Paris a team led by Dr El-Shanti is decoding DNA sequences in order to identify the genes responsible for inherited diseases.