the Kingdom, had been neglected and ignored until locals began fundraising and giving donations to revitalize and make it a more attractive place to visit. Having previously been a hotbed for drug use and misbehavior, it was outfitted with playgrounds and facilities and made into a venue for programs of benefit to the youth in the neighborhood. When I attended the next meeting with Prince Nayef, I presented my idea of similar parks. I began by saying, “Allah will not change the condition of people, as long as they do not change their state themselves.” I then went on to describe my idea: “Real change begins locally. Facilities and clubs can always be set up in remote regions, but they will not have the same positive impact as neighborhood clubs.” I then requested the committee to look into the Jeddah park to see how it could be replicated elsewhere and used as a model for getting local residents involved. I asked my colleagues in the ministry to visit the park and study its impact on neighboring schools. As I expected, the impact had been overwhelmingly positive and in no time led to the development of the Neighborhood School Club concept. The ministry selected and equipped two schools, one for boys and one for girls, in each neighborhood, with the resources needed to set up their own youth clubs. The clubs welcomed families from each neighborhood to practice their athletic, educational, and leisure activities, effectively connecting home to both the school and the neighborhood at large. This initiative was remarkably successful at restoring the public’s faith in schools, and creating an engaging environment for kids that not only protected them from harm but provided them with meaningful and productive ways to spend their time. One of the ministry’s future plans was linked to the concepts of ‘edutainment’, increasing student engagement with subject matter, and creating an appealing learning environment. Tatweer took the initiative of inviting a group representing the private sector and ministry officials to brainstorm ideas about ‘science centers’ that linked school curriculum to experiential learning. This new initiative was first implemented in Hail after extensive architectural design and content studies were carried out. Another initiative that I was proud of was the one we designed for special needs persons who, unfortunately, are often not given the attention they deserve. We developed the K ingdom’s largest center dedicated to diagnosis, medical and educational guidance, as well as to building capacity of this cherished segment of society. With the permission of the prince, we named the facility the Prince Sultan Center for Special Education Support Services.
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At that time, we also had plans to collaborate with the Ministry of Health to establish a state-of-the- art hospital for children with disabilities near Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital in northern Riyadh. We planned for the area to be provided with housing, offices, headquarters for the associations that specialize in this field, as well as clubs, clinics, shopping centers, and parks that accommodate people with disabilities. I would be remiss if I did not also recount the first initiative in which I was involved, when I joined the ministry. On my second day on the job, I was joined by a group of students and representatives from the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) to launch a volunteer environmental preservation program at Al Khafs Park outside of Riyadh. In my first abroad mission as minister, I traveled to the city of Boston for the WOSM annual meeting to deliver a donation on behalf of King Abdullah’s Gifts for Peace program. This massive volunteer program was supported by King Abdullah and Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf, the Honorary Chair man of the World Scout Foundation, before it changed its name to Messengers of Peace. The program owes its origins to when the King of Sweden
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