On this episode of the “What a Relief!” podcast B.C. Dodge talks to Rasha AbuLahoom and Said Durrah — IRUSA’s official podcast.
In this week’s episode, your host welcomes Rasha AbuLahoom to talk about the world’s largest humanitarian crisis: Yemen.
“Yemen is the poorest Arab country in the world. No one really cares about Yemen,” she says.
Rasha does incredible work advocating not only for Yemen, but also for children with special needs. Our listeners have the privilege of hearing her talk about both.
She shares her experience planning an Eid event for children with special needs, a unique project born out of her frustration with the lack of inclusion at typical Eid celebrations. She became inspired to work with special needs because she has a brother with autism. “He is the reason why I decided to become a special education teacher,” she shares.
Rasha goes into detail about the challenges she has watched him face, and how that has driven her to create accommodations for people like him, particularly on holidays when they are forgotten.
The event was catered to families that have children with special needs and included things like a moon-bounce, pony ride, and even a sensory tent for autistic children to experience the fun without sensory overload.
“It’s catered and modified just for kids with special needs,” she says.
Throughout the episode, she walks us through a more in depth look at how we approach the topic of special needs, and talks about a path moving forward.
“Be more accepting. Be more tolerant. And give. I think it goes a long way. Don’t stare and teach your children not to stare.”
**And now you can reach out to us at our new email address: warp@irusa.org!**
“What a Relief!” is the official podcast of Islamic Relief USA. Hosted by digital media specialist B.C. Dodge, IRUSA’s “What a Relief!” puts a human face on what’s going on in the world and how you can enact positive change in it. New episodes every week!
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