Tag: maldives

Letter on wastage

Dear Sirs/Madams

We all have seen our beloved President Nasheed personally taking part in the installation of a solar panel system on the roof of the President’s official residence, Muleeaage.

I have noticed and learned from the above how concerned the President is over our fragile environment and our fragile economy. I think Mr President is giving his beloved people of his beloved country a guideline and idea on the importance of stopping or minimising ongoing waste so that we all abstain from wastage. Wasting is indeed, prohibited (haraam) in Islam.

If we look at our local market area, we see huge quantities of vegetables and fruits that are 100 percent Maldivian products, wasted daily. I think the parent of the local market (Male’ Municipality) would know and agree with this. And again we see expatriates taking over the Maldivian job market including jobs that Maldivians could do better.

I believe that these fresh vegetables and fruits are wasted because the producers are coming from different parts of the country and cannot afford to remain in Male’ until their stuff is sold, and instead they quickly make some money and leave back home. Or they lack marketing and sales ability, so that they keep the produce at the same rate even though it goes bad.

I think a country cannot afford to let it go like this because such waste directly affects our fragile economy. So, I suggest the STO conduct a business study and tries to buy this produce from the local producers, clean it and display it at STO shops in and around Male’ area.

If it requires a subsidy, I hope the President would help STO just like the government is continuously providing subsidies to the STO for similar benefits for the country and for the people.

Also a country cannot afford to watch silently without researching why the young men and women are not taking over the Maldives job market. A responsible authority shall not say or mention that it does not give jobs for Maldivians, but very unfortunately this is a very common story nowadays. I don’t believe we can continue using cheap workers from abroad and relax. We are really facing the consequences even now.

Drugs were not an issue here some 30 years back. Can we say it’s not an issue today? We have previously seen the killing of human beings only on films, but now we see it happening live in our society today. Can we say it’s not an issue today?

We cannot afford to watch and wait until a high percentage of our local products go bad and wasted. And we cannot afford to keep using cheap workers from abroad until it becomes an issue later.

Regards
Saeed

All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write a letter piece, please submit it to [email protected]

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Gaamaadhoo bones identified as belonging to missing inmate, says President

Human bones discovered in the site of the former Gaamaadhoo prison on September 19, 2009 matches the age and estimated period of death of Abdulla Anees, Vaavu Keyodhoo Bashigasdhosuge, an inmate officially declared missing in the 1980s, President Mohamed Nasheed revealed this morning.

Speaking at a ceremony to unveil the first volume of elderly historian Ahmed Shafeeq’s short stories at Nasandhuraa Palace Hotel, Nasheed said he was intimately familiar with Gaamadhoo prison and had wondered if the bones could belong to Anees (“Aihbalhey”) when he first heard of the discovery.

“The investigation team said the cemetery at Himmafushi was dug up and its soil was taken to the Gaamaadhoo area and these bones must have been brought from there,” he said, dismissing speculation that the bones could have been transferred from Himmafushi, the inhabited side of the island.

“I was watching with my own eyes when sand was brought from Himmafushi. I would know that it was not from that soil.”

President Nasheed spent three years in Gaamaadhoo prison for dissident journalism in opposition to the rule of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

In September 2009, the President’s Office asked police to investigate the discovery and samples of the 14 bone fragments were sent to Thailand for DNA analysis.

Nasheed revealed today that forensic examination has identified the age of the deceased, while a former prison guard, Mohamed Naeem, of Gaaf Dhaal Hoadhendhoo Muraka, has told the police investigation that Anees died in Gaamaadhoo prison.

Police have now gathered enough evidence to send the case for prosecution, he said, pledging the cases of 111 people reported as missing by Shafeeq would be investigated.

Keyodhoo Councillor Gasim Ahmed told Minivan News today that a 90-year-old man was the only remaining relative of Anees in Keyodhoo.

“I knew Anees very well,” he said. “He was playing with us when he broke his hand and that’s how he was called ‘Aihbalhey’.”

Gasim said that Anees’ father was still alive but had moved to another island.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said today that the investigation was still underway and details would be disclosed at a later stage.

Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News at the time that the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party had voiced concern over the disappearance of inmates.

“There were allegations that some were killed in jail and buried,” said Zuhair. “There were also allegations that some people were dropped in pits where they made lime for construction.”

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Small islands reject administrative consolidation

Small island populations overwhelmingly rejected the government’s proposal for administrative consolidation and the creation of city councils at Saturday’s referendum amid a 30 percent turnout across the country.

Of 88,882 eligible voters, less than 27,000 participated in the referendum.

Provisional results show that 86 islands voted against the proposal for grouping smaller islands to form large population centres, while only 19, mostly larger islands, voted in favour.

Voting took place in 105 islands listed by the government for administrative consolidation and the creation of city councils ahead of the enactment of the landmark Decentralisation Act and upcoming council elections.

Following the evident lack of voter enthusiasm, the government has been severely criticised for inadequate efforts to raise awareness and inform voters of the benefits of the proposed administrative changes.

After a bitter year-long struggle between the government and opposition parties in parliament over the draft legislation for local governance, the Act was passed in a partisan vote in April after MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) walked out in protest.

The dispute centred round the government’s stated policy of grouping two or more atolls to form seven provinces, which the opposition argued was unconstitutional and could marginalise less populous atolls with disproportionate representation.

While the opposition insisted that the existing division of 20 administrative atolls and the capital Male’ must be maintained, the government argued that consolidation was necessary to achieve economies of scale or cost advantages in the long run.

Saturday’s referendum was necessitated by article 136 of the Decentralisation Act, which states that islands could be grouped to form constituencies if the respective populations make an appeal to the president.

Following discussions between the two main parties before listing administrative constituencies for the council elections as stipulated by the Act, the parties agreed that a public referendum would have to decide the disputed issue of consolidation.

After the plan for combining islands was announced, opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali criticised it as “senseless”, warning of “dire consequences for the people” should the proposed administrative changes fail.

The parliamentary majority leader also argued that “it would be highly irresponsible to spend taxpayer money” on the referendums in islands with traditional opposition to consolidation.

“Anyone who understands the politics of the different islands would understand that some of the groupings are just non-starters,” he said.

Meanwhile in his weekly radio address on Friday, President Mohamed Nasheed reiterated that developing a large number of small island units was not economically viable.

“Based on my education and experience, I see that a small unit could be developed to a particular extent, a particular limit,” he explained. “When that limit is reached for the small unit, there is very little that can be done.”

Referring to the islands Inguraidhoo, Kinolhas and Fainu in Raa atoll, separated by four nautical miles, Nasheed argued that the administrative consolidation would create a population centre of over 2,500 people.

“When the government as well as aid agencies and well wishers look to help, it is likely that more attention will be given to an island where 2,500 people live than an island with a very small number of people,” he said.

A larger budget could therefore be earmarked for the new constituency, he added, allowing for large scale operations to provide utility services, such as one powerhouse for three islands.

Of the 105 islands where voting took place, the proposal was endorsed by Alif Alif Mathiveri, Alif Dhaal Maamingili, Thaa Omadu, Baa Dharavandhu and Goidhu, Haa Alif atoll Baarah and Thakandhu, Haa Dhaal Finey, Noonu Kendhikulhudhoo, Raa Inguraidhoo and Rasgethymu, Shaviyani Fonadhoo and Milandhoo.

The Elections Commission (EC) is expected to announce the official results tonight.

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Father blames medical negligence after fever treatment leaves daughter deaf

The father of seven year-old Aishath Iyan claims his daughter lost her hearing after she was prescribed an overdose of antibiotics for a fever at Thinadhoo Regional Hospital in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

Ahmed Ihsan is demanding law makers institute laws governing medical negligence, currently lacking in the Maldives, after remedial treatment for his daughter “cost me my business and life savings.”

“On July 14 in 2007 I went to Thinadhoo Regional Hospital to get treatment for my three year-old daughter, on advice from my island’s health centre. She was in the centre for three days with a fever and the doctors observed that her left hand was swelling, and recommended Thinadhoo Hospital,” said Ihsan.

“As soon as we reached the hospital, the doctor said I had to admit my daughter immediately.”

The doctor first administered an injection medicine to try and reduce the swelling, however it did not work. The doctor then said Aishath would have to undergo a hand operation.

“The same day the doctor prescribed two dose of 80 milligrams of Gentamicin (an antibiotic used to treat many types of bacterial infections) and the same evening another two 80 milligram doses of Gentamicin, and a fifth 80 milligram dose the next day,” Ihsan said. “The hospital operated on her three times, and discovered no internal infection.”

Gentamicin is a vestibulotoxin, and can cause permanent loss of equilibrioception, caused by damage to the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear, usually if taken at high doses or for prolonged periods of time.

Ihsan said he had no clue that his then-three year-old daughter was counting her last days that she would ever hear her father’s voice in her life.

“It was July 19 2007, and she asked me what was plugged into her ears. She said she could not hear anything,” Ihsan said. “So the doctor cleaned her ear, but unfortunately it did not do her ears any good, and the condition was same.”

Ihsan said he then took his daughter to Male’ to visit an ear, nose and throat specialist to try and determine the cause of her deafness.

“He advised me to go abroad as soon as possible, so I went to India. The doctors there said her hearing was lost permanently and recommended the only treatment which was ‘Choclear Implantation’,” he said. “I came back to Maldives and asked the ENT specialist to examine the case and to determine the cause.”

The specialist then examined the case very thoroughly and said the cause of her deafness was an overdose of Genamicin, Ihsan said.

“The doctor said Gentamicin should be given only after measuing the weight of the person, and the doctor at Thinadhoo hospital did not check my daughter’s weight or height,” he claimed.

He said he had spent Rf 7,119,100 (US$554,000) on his daughter’s treatment so far.

“I lost my business and all the money I saved,” he said.

“I have been struggling to recover the amount of money I spent for the treatment of my daughter. It was a medical fault – she was taken to hospital to treat a normal fever,” Ihsan explained. “The Civil Court ruled that there was no capacity to it to rule that the lost money should be paid by the state.”

“People should really be aware of faults in the medical system. There should be a way that people can make the doctors stand trial and get their money back,” Ihsan said, adding that he was by no means an isolated case.

Ihsan explained that many of the people have suffered in similar situations like him and said there was no way to get their return.

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Two passengers injured in ferry accident

A 4 year-old girl and her mother were injured in a ferry accident this morning, reports police.

Police reported that the ferry collided with a cargo dhoni that was entering Male’ harbor.

The girl and her mother wre taken to Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital for treatment and now have been discharged, according to police.

Police reported that the two boats were also damaged during the incident.

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Three children lost on a canoe

Three children from Hulhudhufaaru in Raa Atoll have been lost in a canoe, reports police.

Police reported that the three kids went out to the ocean on a canoe yesterday and there was as yet no sign of them.

There were 14 year-old boy and two nine year-old boys aboard the canoe when it left, according to police.

Police and Maldives National Defence Force are searching the area for the missing children.

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NGOs and parents protest against education sector outside president’s residence

A coalition of NGOs have begun a series of protests outside the President’s residence to express disapproval of the education sector of the Maldives.

A spokesperson for the NGO coalition, Ibrahim Moahmed, told Minivan News that the protesters waited peacefully outside the presidential residence over the weekend to express their disapproval of the education minister and his policy.

“There were parents, NGOs and other concerned people of the nation regarding numerous issues concerning the education sector,” said Ibrahim. “A person came from inside and told us we would get an appointment with the President tomorrow, and we all dispersed.”

Ibrahim said the NGO coalition consisted “of 127 NGOs.”

“50-60 people joined the protest,” he said.

The Education Ministry’s move towards co-education across all schools in the Maldives – currently only four are single sex – has drawn considerable consternation from many religious conservatives. Education Minister Dr Mustafa Luthfy is again in the spotlight after protests were held outside his house earlier this year following a proposal from the Ministry’s steering committee suggesting that Islam and Dhivehi be made optional at A-level.

Currently only 2000 of the 10,000 students who sit O-levels each year pass enough subjects to continue to A-level studies. This troubling statistic, identified by Luthfy as one of the country’s key social problems, results in approximately 8000 disaffected 15-16 year-olds released onto the streets annually, with little hope of finding a job until they turn 18.

More recently a debate has been sparked over the merits and demerits of co-education.

Referencing “a World Health Organisation (WHO) report”, Ibrahim claimed that a rising number of sexual relationship “is more concerning for the Maldives than the issue of illegal narcotics.”

He noted that the NGO coalition had sought to file the issue of co-education with parliament’s national security committee today.

The NGO coalition says they have highlighted 22 issues concerning the education sector.

On 4 October, the Adhaalath Party said the government’s new co-education policy was “a failed Western concept inconsistent with the teachings of Islam.”

On the next day, religious NGO Jamiyyathulsalaf called for the resignation of Education Minister Dr Musthafa Luthfy, and claimed that Arabiyya was the only Maldivian school with an adequate education policy.

In the same strain, the minority opposition party People’s Alliance (PA), led by the former president’s brother MP Abdulla Yameen, strongly condemned the idea of introducing co-education.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Comment: Can the Maldives institute a vibrant NGO sector?

In the Maldives, the NGO sector is lumped together as a whole by the developmental partners, government and other stakeholders. For convenience in the Maldives, the NGO sector seems to represent the civil society.

Whenever the civil society representation is called, you will see NGO sector members.

A weak civil society?

In a democratising country like Maldives, the civil society and the NGO sector should play a crucial role. Civil society is one of the pillars of democracy. Without a vibrant and strong civil society, democracy cannot be attained.

In the Maldives – unlike Bhutan – legislation allowed the formation of NGOs for centuries, apart from NGOs targeting human rights until a few years ago. Today, the Maldives has more than 1100 clubs and NGOs registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs under the clubs, associations and NGOs law.

It is problematic to categorise the NGOs that work for the development of the country. It also means that for the population of 300,000, we have an NGO for every 200 Maldivians. Out of the registered NGOs in the Maldives, only a few have office space with paid staff.

The oldest developmental national NGOs that are existence in Maldives are SHE and the Care Society.

Presently, the work of developmental NGOs visible in the Maldives are the Care Society, SHE, Maldives Democracy Network, Journey, Democracy House, Transparency Maldives, SWAD, JCI, Maldives NGO Federation.

There are other NGOs that are noticeable at periodic intervals like Madulu, Strength of Society and others.

The NGOs in the Maldives have informal and formal networks and work closely together, pooling resources on projects of common interest, producing policy papers and position papers. Some of the examples are the JUST campaign and the Domestic Violence Bill, to name a few recent combined team works by the NGO sector.

Expectations from NGO sector

There are high expectations from the developmental partners, government and other stakeholders, including the general public, for the NGO sector to play a central role in the democratisation process. For example for the upcoming local council elections, there is greater need for the NGO sector to prove and show neutrality, put the best interests of people first, monitor corruptions and act as watch dogs.

What’s thwarting this is again lack of resources. There is a greater need to educate the general public via media. The media agencies commit to return investments and only allocate a dose of space to corporate social responsibility. So this avenue is closed to NGOs. For every work NGOs does, [media] is paid.

Challenges

The major constraint for NGO development in the Maldives are funding limitations. There are no established mechanisms to secure funding or plan long term sustainability of NGOs.

The biggest national NGOs in the Maldives face similar constraints. These NGOs have office space borrowed from their family residences, and most NGOs are fortunate if they have a well-wisher who supports administrative costs and recurrent costs including office space. Other NGOs founders or staff have self-interest, so they work for minimal pay, most times as a volunteer.

The developmental partners always claim that NGOs in the Maldives lack capacity and do not have the skills to organise or implement projects. As a person who has worked in the NGO more than 20 years I think this is misleading as resource mobilisation can create a strong NGO sector.

How many NGOs in the Maldives have bought a laptop out of the project? Before suggesting this is ineffective planning, it is important to note that NGOs do not have means to buy a computer or even a laptop. Laptops are required to communicate with the outside world and for documentation purposes.

Or why do staff costs have to be incorporated into projects? Because it is essential to the survival of NGOs and sustain their work. Why are the travel costs included higher than other countries? Because that is the reality of high costs of living in the Maldives.

Why is that the consultancy fees for local consultants are unacceptable while large sums are paid to foreign consultants, including travel and lodging only to produce a plain report or technical input? Why is it that local consultants do not apply or are available? It is because of these discriminatory attitudes practiced by donors.

Most international donors scrutinise the sustainability of projects. If this is the case, why don’t they consider the requirement of the NGO sector through gigantic lenses for sustainability?

Maldives NGO law does not prohibit conducting business activities, however, several NGOs experienced difficulties in this aspect as the law is not enforced or institutionalised in various ministries. Several NGOs could not register vehicles in NGOs names or take loans. There are several NGOs moving towards the Social Corporation model though this is new thinking.

International funding for social development in partnership with NGOs

Underthe previous government, the majority of national strategic plans, including the UN country plans, identified partnerships with NGOs. It would be interesting to analyse the outcome of these partnerships over the last 10 years.

To give credit, there have been efforts by previous Government to strengthen the civil society but it has not shown any results. Similarly, the current government has also identified partnership with civil society which needs to be spelt out clearly and implemented.

The majority of funding in the past for the NGO sector has been secured through international sources, though some NGOs have secured one-time undersised funding locally. As there is no tax system or cooperate social responsibility policy, the NGO sector is struggling for survival.

Some NGOs are active, while others ended in death row, and a few stagnated for years.  As a developing and economically well-established country compared with other South Asian countries, and a smaller population, the NGO sector could not compete with other NGOs in the region. This is the reality of the 20th century as well.

Reinforce the NGO sector

The government, UN and other developmental partners should consider the NGO sector as developmental partners.

The NGO sector requires institutionalisation of good governance, capacity building, project implementation and financial support. It is unrealistic for the NGO sector to expect to conduct business, there has to be a mechanism established for the survival of NGOs.

Can the government, UN and other developmental partners trust the NGO sector to implement the projects? Can the US Embassy and other embassies, rather than implementing the projects, recruit the NGO sector to conduct programmes and projects by allocating a budget for implementation?

Can the Human Rights Commission, government and UN assign projects like training projects/components to the NGO sector?

The NGOs have networks and it would assist the capacity-building of island NGOs as well the national NGOs if this type of work is capitalised on them. The NGO sector has the capacity and ability if funding is allocated to conduct training in the areas of human rights, governance, decentralisation, child rights, women rights, people with disabilities, NGO training, and other such training. The government, UN and Human Rights Commission can play the monitoring role.

The NGO sector is requested to conduct programmes and projects at low cost and for free which barely covers the recurrent costs, administrative staff costs and project management costs. In the context that is contested above, can the NGO sector in the Maldives survive without an enabling environment?

The NGO sector requires adopting good governance models and being active watch dogs.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Comment: The Maldives must value arts education

My first attempt at promoting Arts in Maldives was in 1999 when I opened SALAAM School, because I believed in the importance and significance of art in education and the potential development of people.

The discovery of talents and skills in Maldivians such as voice, and the ability to play an instrument without learning the theory, took Maldivians by surprise and a wave of pride and surge of energy swept through the 70s and into the 90s – the era of self discovery and connection to innerself.

The truth was that inspired by Hindi movies with beautiful traditions of dance and song, and the Western groups like the Beatles, Rolling Stones and later by Olympians, Amazon Jade and Quicksand, the Maldivian people discovered a new world that brought joy and connection to their very souls through a new form of expression.

Artists then were revered, Olympus hall unfailingly filled up, and people sang along to the radio. Jeymu Dhonkama’s songs struck the heart of the young and old alike. The two discos, house parties, two cinemas, stages for concerts and plays, traditional dance groups performing on the roads during Eid, dressing up for festivities, carnivals with acrobats and beauty competitions, imported circuses and music bands had Male’ swinging into the early 80s.

New Maldivian artists, new forms of art and new opportunities developed to a peak in the early 90s and slowly started receding because as the Maldives entered the era of the nineties, political control on whatever brought people together was held in check.

Then returned the Islamic-educated ‘scholars’, adamant to put a stop to all forms of performing arts and visual images.

Both the intentions, one for political purpose and the other to spread the new messages of Islam, coincided perfectly, brutally fragmenting and replacing the hopes of the Maldivians with confusion, fear and disconnection within themselves, within families and within communities.

A country with a strong artistic profile is an indication of progression, the expression of its people and the freedom to express how they experience life. The following paragraph sums up the importance of Arts in Education and in our lives.

“The Arts are an essential part of public education. From dance and music to theatre and the visual arts, the arts give children a unique means of expression, capturing their passions and emotions, and allowing them to explore new ideas, subject matter, and cultures. They bring us joy in every aspect of our lives.

“Arts education not only enhances students’ understanding of the world around them, but it also broadens their perspective on traditional academics. The arts give us the creativity to express ourselves, while challenging our intellect. The arts integrate life and learning for all students and are integral in the development of the whole person.”

Schools in the Maldives never catered to the needs of the creative aspect in young people because the government institutions concerned with Education and Art, as well as Youth, had Ministers who were ignorant of what Arts mean to children’s and the community’s development.

On the other hand, art and culture is always at the end of the list all over the world, when it comes to education and budgets.

School of Arts, Languages and Music was abbreviated to ‘S’ for School, ‘A’ for Arts, ‘LA’ for Languages ‘AM’ for ‘And MUSIC’, thus giving the name SALAAM (appropriately meaning peace) to SALAAM School.

It had 400 registered students and over 200 youth volunteers when it started. What attracted such a crowd?

The school was nurturing the blessed gift of creativity and supporting young people to bring it out and express it. Youth in 2000 roamed the streets of Male’ as aimlessly as they do today. However, the youth that joined hands with SALAAM School disqualified the negative brand attached to youth (then as even today) through discipline, leadership and commitment that surprised the Home Minister Umar Zahir in 2000 during the first philharmonic and youth orchestra concert at the Social Center.

The Maldives needs a comprehensive and high quality arts education. The passivity we see in children, the nonparticipation in our youth and the lack of ability to bridge difference and solve conflicts in our adults can be caused by the lack of a most significant vehicle in our society: arts to “express the inexpressible and the unbearable”.

Music and dance and visual art forms are a unifying force and the only dialogue without argument. It bridges across races, sex, age, nationality, language, culture and even emotions and conflicts.

Arts hold communities together and through celebrations which are always combined with music, and usually dance, creates the good feelings and binds people despite personal differences. Any form of art enhances our lives.

Why do young children learn better with techniques of art? Why do children remember rhymes and songs? Why do all the countries in the world have National Anthems expressed in melody and lyrics?

The truth is that the impact of music is powerful and transforms emotional experience to learning enhancing the likelihood that something will be remembered. Art always leaves an impression.

“If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his/her vision wherever it takes him/her.”

The dream of any person to be an artist or to integrate art into his/her life must be taken seriously. We must have singers, song writers, composers, actors, actresses, dancers, and visual artists in our communities without being labeled but supported through schools, theatres, concert halls, galleries, clubs etc, and last but not least, art-specific educational programs and trained teachers.

We need arts advocacy groups and associations supported by funding, artist support, and materials to continuously enrich the environments of our communities. These activities and people help to shape the culture of our communities.

“The arts reflect profoundly the most democratic credo, the belief in an individual vision or voice”.

Today there are factions of Maldivians who believe that artists should not be encouraged and there are stories of confrontations, threats and attacks. This happened to SALAAM School in 2000.

The school was vandalised in October 2000. Paint was thrown into the corridors, liquid soap onto the walls and the petals of the fans bent so that they touch each other at the tips. The school was under attack and labeled in the media as ‘spreading Christianity’. Miadhu explicitly wrote on April 22, 2010: “Anyone who has studied in the Arabian Peninsula should know that missionaries have been using the word “Salaam” to spread Christianity. After six months when the cat was out of the bag, Maumoon had no choice but to close the school which he opened with his very own hands.”

Was it the word “SALAAM” or the teaching of arts that was the measure to identify Christian missionaries?

The reason behind the vandalism will never be known. Was it political or was it the believers of the new Islamic movement? There was every attempt to stop anything that brought people together, and SALAAM School was attracting many young people to one place.

One comment from a staff of the Ministry of Education (2000) expressed regret at how the Ministry of Education had obstructed SALAAM school’s functioning. He said that if the intention was to obstruct SALAAM School, it should not have been allowed in the first place.

SALAAM School did not close but stayed dormant a few years, digesting a financial loss but growing stronger in conviction. Today, SALAAM School continues developing people of all ages, especially youth, believing in their potential and giving them dignity by guiding them and leaving them a choice to walk their own path.

SALAAM School’s first mission is on hold, the arts school will happen.

Each day is a new scene, a new painting, a new song, a new play, and a new dance, and each day brings new hope to one or more youth who passes through SALAAM School. Maldives is our stage.

Aminath Arif is the founder of SALAAM School.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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