02 October 2013, Dubai, UAE – This is the fifth year in succession that a group of special needs students — over 18 years of age —from Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre are being given the opportunity to receive work training at Villa Rotana, Rihab Rotana and Rimal Rotana hotels.
This hotels initiative, a first-of-its-kind humanitarian project initiated in the UAE in 2009, was launched with an aim to open the door to specialised training of special needs students. Each year, the project receives in each of the three hotels, between three and six Rashid Centre students selected by the Centre’s management to receive six to eight months of training under the supervision of the Centre’s social assistance cell and the human resource department of the hotels.
Mr. Kinan Al Ghraoui, the General Manager of the three hotels said: “Five years already and still have much to do with Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre students. Villa Rotana, Rihab Rotana and Rimal Rotana are always committed to support young students with special needs and make them get familiar with a real work environment. Together, we must put the most vulnerable at the heart of our actions to achieve a better life for all”.

Mrs. Mariam Othman, General Manager of Rashid Pediatric Therapy Centre, commented, "Many years of cooperation between Rashid Centre and Villa, Rihab and Rimal Rotana contributed in the rehabilitation of many students with special needs through helping them acquiring new skills, being more independent and achieving a real integration with the entire society. We are proud of this permanent cooperation where our children are trained to acquire vocational skills to help them in the future with better job opportunities which will allow them to live with dignity when they graduate from Rashid Centre."
Following the completion of the training programme, Villa Rotana, Rihab Rotana and Rimal Rotana organize a graduation ceremony under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Acting Chairman of Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre, where all the participants receive a graduation certificate from Rotana Hotels and Resorts.