Our Journey

The genesis of Manzil was a non-profit support group called ‘Special Families Support’ which was started by our Director Dr Ayesha Husaini on 9th December, 1999. The group grew to over 200 members and is one of GCC’s oldest non-profit groups focusing on social inclusion of people of determination.

The support group blossomed into “Manzil”, a non-profit Center that was officially inaugurated on February 7th 2005 by Sheikha Jameela Mohammed Al Qasimi, Director General, Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services. Meaning “Destination” in Urdu or “Home” in Arabic, Manzil caters to 42 students with cognitive disabilities (from 4 years onwards) with a staff of 27 making it a highly qualitative center with a significantly low student to staff ratio. The average experience of our teaching staff in the disability arena is over 13 years.

The organization is now spreading its wings further and is crossing international borders, doing inclusion research & consultancy and is also involved as an intellectual partner with Governmental entities. Manzil’s Ambassador of Inclusion is Chaica S. Al Qassimi. She is also a Self-advocate & representative of Inclusion MENA.

WHY MANZIL

Our Mission is to actively promote inclusion by providing a professional learning environment for persons with disability to nurture their potential & develop the requisite self help, social, educational & vocational skills that are required to function in society.

Why are we unique? At Manzil we work towards shaping an inclusive society. Inclusion is recognizing our universal ‘oneness’ and interdependence; that we are ‘one’ even though we are not the ‘same’. While researchers define inclusion within an educational concept, to us inclusion is more than merely studying together. It is about having equal opportunities for all, being accepted for what one is, being together, working together, living together…

The strong focus towards inclusion gives Manzil students a chance to learn academic, social & vocational skills in a mainstream environment. It also gives society the opportunity to be exposed to different abilities and challenges faced by our students. At a young age this opportunity can shape minds and personalities of both those with and without disabilities in an inclusive & positive manner.

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

At Manzil, we believe in empowerment of every student that walks through our doors so that they can lead a life of independence and dignity. We achieve this goal by capacity building of people with varied abilities, raising social awareness and fostering an inclusive society.

I firmly believe that if people are exposed to differences amongst individuals and are taught to accept disability as part of life from a young age, then they will grow into responsible adults. In this case, society will not be faced with issues regarding acceptance of differences, whether at an educational, professional or social level. Based on this philosophy, we at Manzil promote inclusive education and work tirelessly towards maximizing the potential of each child and ensure that they participate in the workforce and get woven into the social fabric to make a meaningful contribution to society.
Sheikh Maktoum bin Butti AlMaktoum
Chairman

MANAGEMENT

Dr. Ayesha Saeed

Founder Director

Dr. Ayesha is one of the rare Director’s in the region whose PhD is in Special Education, from the University of Sheffield, UK. Her thesis on ‘Inclusion in UAE’ gives her a unique grounding on the needs of UAE society and how best to include individuals with disability. Her Psychology Honors Thesis in the disability arena ranked First in Delhi University, and she also got a University Ranking in her Masters Degree in Social Work. She also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management.

Dr. Ayesha has been awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by The University of Sheffield in recognition of her achievements in supporting the educational needs of individuals with disabilities.

Ayesha has been an Educational Psychologist, Counselor & Lecturer during her 20+ years in Dubai, and is the Founder of Dubai’s first support group for families having persons with disability in 1999. Besides speaking at conferences & on Radio, her TV show ‘Ask Ayesha’ has been prominently featured in UAE media. Dr Ayesha sits on the Advocacy Committee of Dubai Government’s Community & Development Authority & is the Governor for Inclusion on a few UAE School Boards. She has been featured in the Middle East’s Iconic 100 NRI’s list & also won the ‘UAE Woman of the Year’ Award. Dr Ayesha is also the proud recipient of the 2012 Princess Haya Award for Special Education in the “Outstanding Director General” category and is the 2018 winner of the MENA Regional Social Impact Award given by the British Council.

Samar Addasi

Head of Programs

Ms. Samar has over 19 years of hands-on management experience in Special Education. Her expertise encompasses planning, programming, personnel development and running projects in professional organizations.She was the Program Coordinator at Al Asreiyya School, Amman, spanning learning support and inclusion. Ms Samar was instrumental in developing programs to meet a wide range of needs and enabled children from the least to the most able to realize their full potential. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (Major) / Business Administration (Minor) and a Master’s degree in Special Education from Jordan University. She also has a post-graduate diploma in Vocational and Personal Development from the Open Polytechnic, New Zealand.

At Manzil, Ms. Samar in her capacity of Program Manager supervises the Student Individualised Educational Plans, runs inclusive programs based on international best practices and manages the entire teaching staff as well.

Ricky Husaini

Director - Strategy & Partnerships

Ricky is a part of the Founding Team of Manzil, and currently heads up global partnerships as well as in-house strategy for the company. Beides his passion for promoting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion across both educational & corporate frameworks, Ricky has been a serial technology investor into renewable energy, fintech & retail platform businesses. He was part of the team managing the wealth of the Ruler of Dubai 20 years ago and was also Deputy Treasurer of the largest bank in the Middle East as well as CIO of an Abu Dhabi based Bank. Besides being an accredited Financial Risk Manager, he is also certified as a blockchain expert by the World Blockchain Council.

Ricky is now focussing on deploying NLP & Machine learning algorithms to create personality maps of people with and without disabilities, leading to tailor-made training programmes to assist them to enhance their potential and boost their self-confidence.

ACHIEVEMENTS

United Nations Zero Project Award Winner, 2020 (Top 10 global initiatives)

85% of Manzil graduates are in mainstream jobs

Outstanding Director Award 2012 - PHASE AWARDS

Outstanding Family of Special Needs Child 2010 - PHASE AWARDS. Nelofer is one of our first graduates and is working at ENBD to support her family.

Outstanding Special Needs Supporter 2010 & 2015 (Zurich & Jumeirah Creekside Hotel) - PHASE AWARDS

Manzil Art Collection displayed in prestigious art studio and hotels in Dubai

Students are attending the partial integration program regularly to interact with their mainstream peers.

Manzil won Arabian Business Achievement Award 2016 in the Social Service Provider category.We would like to thank all our supporters for making this possible!

Manzil is the only Pearson Assured Special Education Center in the GCC region. The Center has an international benchmark on quality of all the processes underpinning the design, delivery, quality assurance and/or assessment of the education and training programs.

Manzil is the first and only organization certified as Disability Confident Committed outside UK, in line with the UK Disability Confident Accreditation Scheme

Testimonials

I have personally interacted with the parents of some of the students and was touched by the joy I saw in the eyes of the parents at seeing their children step up with pride to find their place in mainstream society. Financial transparency has always been a focus in this organization, and I am happy to state that Manzil has always had a very good history in this regard.

Edward B Quinlan, UAE Country Managing Partner

Manzil’s commitment to improving the lives of persons with developmental disabilities was also evident in talking with the young adults in the transition-to-work class. The students were well mannered, had good functional communication skills and displayed a genuine interest in their peers and others though each student had been adequately prepared to make a contribution to society. And, since that is the ultimate outcome, I don’t think there is any greater testament to the work being done at the school.

Thomas M Caffrey, Med,BCBA, CEO

The Family friendly atmosphere, coupled with well-developed and comprehensive curriculum provides the pupils of Manzil an outstanding environment in which to thrive.

Harry Hanscomb, Chief Operating Officer

The Director Dr. Ayesha S. Husaini, the senior management and staff of Manzil care about their student’s holistic development and have been eager and extremely supportive in participating in our pilot projects with best buddies since March, 2008 and Partial Integration since October, 2008. These are two programs many of us at The Millennium School, Dubai are extremely proud of.

Michael Guzder, Principal

We were fortunate that Manzil for specially abled children was started off in 2005; Sacha Randive my only child who has Down Syndrome was the first batch that joined Manzil. In her time with the dedication of teachers and entire school staff, Sacha was able to learn social skills to assist her in the workplace, manage her time effectively, know how to deal with people in authority and to be respectful, still having her own perspective on issues. Bold and yet working with the parameters of an organization. Hats off to Manzil and Thank you!

Jennifer Randive, Mother

I would like to extend my appreciation for your cooperation with our team in the sharing of information and suggestions for the development of the Centre for Excellence in Disabilities. Your openness and willingness to work together proved to be of great value to the team, and provided us with a clear insight into the current situation with regards to special needs in the UAE.

Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Secretary General, Dubai Education Council

Our collaboration began in 2007 and continues to be very valuable to us. During our interaction over the past three years, my team and I were impressed by your professionalism and commitment and that of your team at Manzil. Despite the limited resources, it was particularly encouraging to see that you and the other staff members were knowledgeable , had an active in –house training program and were very receptive to the research ideas presented by our team. We greatly appreciate your initiative and resourcefulness in helping us to overcome hurdles that our team faced.

Dr. Christopher A. Walsh MD, PhD,
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, BIDMC, Chief Division of Genetics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Bullard Professor Of neurology and pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

My job search had always been tough but ever since I came across Manzil Center in Dec’2017, the pressure on me eased and I felt very calm. Yesterday, I got an irresistible offer from L’Oréal and I thank Manzil Center from my deepest heart for introducing me to L’Oréal. Manzil Center is very effective, thanks to its team and I hope it continues to benefit the ones who turn to Manzil for assistance.

Majid H. Baluch