The views of Massar’s partners and beneficiaries serve as an important indicator and a compass for the project in general. That is why we always seek to connect with them, as their views interest us and help us evolve. So Massar organized, in October and November, 2009, workshops with children and youth on developing the content of the Damascus Discovery Center before proceeding to the detailed design phase of the exhibits at the center. 240 children and young boys from six different governorates (Al-Raqa, Aleppo, Homs, Damascus, Tartous and Sweidah) participated in these workshops.

The children made great contributions to the workshops. The level of interaction was remarkable. However, the workshop held in Homs stands out as the most effective.  It included 10 children with disabilities, integrated with their peers. It gauged the acceptability of the idea of integrating children with various disabilities with other children. The workshop witnessed the successful interaction of the children with each other and an immediate change in their attitudes and conduct.

13 year old Muhammad Qassim, who suffers from a major physical disability, was terrified of mingling with children who attended the workshop; he began crying before the start of the workshop and asked to be returned home. The Massar team talked to Muhammad in private, and explained to him the importance of his contributions to the workshop, and informed him that all that was required of him was to grant Massar the chance to explain to him and to the others the objective that the workshop is designed to achieve. They promised him that in case he was not convinced, Massar would make sure that he would be returned home, at which point he decided to stay and grant us this opportunity. By noon, Muhammad had interacted with the team and we came to discover that he had a great talent for poetry, and had won national prizes. While working in the context of the identity activity, he even agreed to be cited before the others to prove that identity is not the attributes with which are born, and which we can do nothing about.

Rather it is the attributes which we choose and act upon that form our Identity. At the end of the workshop, Muhammad proceeded to the center of the hall to recite for us a great poem by Omar Al-Farra about Palestine to great applause. He had a wonderful feeling, having expressed himself and made many friends.