Dubai International Academy extends a humanitarian hand to Manzil, an organisation dedicated to children with special needs

DIA will help to organise the charity carnival in support of Manzil, a Sharjah-based humanitarian organisation that is dedicated to the welfare of children with special needs.

The Manzil Carnival will be held on Friday, 29 February from 3pm to 8pm at DIA, which is located in Emirates Hills.

The event will include food, games, stalls and entertainment together with prizes for lucky participants. All proceeds from the carnival will be donated to Manzil.

Manzil is under the aegis of the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, which raises funds by organising events and donations to provide individuals with special needs the necessary opportunities that can help them integrate with society.

Ms. Sunita Dias, CAS (Creativity Action Service) Coordinator and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award coordinator at Dubai International Academy, said: "At Dubai International Academy, we believe in encouraging our students to participate and involve themselves in activities that will help develop a greater level of sensitivity to others, especially the less fortunate. We are happy to shoulder our corporate social responsibilities by joining hands with Manzil and working towards our common goal of enlightening the lives of children with special needs".

She added: "DIA has always attached great importance to its Creativity, Action and Service, and Community components of the school's International Baccalaureate programme. These elements focus on providing students with the opportunity to undertake activities that emphasise learning by doing tasks that have 'real' consequences. The carnival is one way of involving our students in local community projects".

DIA students and their parents can lend their support in many ways to make the Manzil Carnival a huge success. They can actively participate in the event by offering cash donations, sponsoring a stall at the carnival, or setting one at a cost per stall, donating to the food stalls, donating 'new' unwanted gifts to the DIA White Elephant stall, or by donating products that can be used as prizes for raffle competitions or which can be sold at Manzil stalls.

Ms. Sari Kuparimen, Operations Coordinator, Manzil, said: "It's heartening to know that an educational institutition like DIA and their students have come forward to support this worthy cause. Manzil is constantly trying to improve the educational and therapeutic facilities for our students. So DIA's thoughtful and timely contribution will further boost our efforts to raise funds for this purpose. A carnival is always associated with fun and frolic so we are confident that this one will do wonders at cheering our students."