CLC(creative learning centre) in Oman, needs your help

[omani bint]

Ccr Oman As Ramadan approaches i hope people will come forward to support our special center. We are in need of funds for rent. The rent has not been paid for two months because of the summer holidays. We also need sponsors for poor children for the new academic year. I hope people will look within their hearts and donate to this center that really needs the help of the community.


Please dig deep people and help in any way, just getting this information to the "right person" would be fantastic, if you can help, please contact Kawther 95303700

[ogie]

Make a poster of it and I will try to approach some private sector for donations .. email to me @ ogie3pleog@gmail.com

[omani bint]

@ogie, Many thanks, could you kindly call Kawther on the above number, I copied & pasted this from a Facebook page,

[carnac]

Please correct me if I am mistaken, but is not the CLC set up as a "for profit" company, rather than a non-profit establishment? It is a business, no? If this is correct, why would I give money to them, rather than to a non-profit that truly depends on public goodwill?
If it is a non-profit, is it recognized as such by the Ministry of Social Affairs?
If it is a "for profit" business, why does it masquerade as a charity? There are other, true non-profits for kids that also need money, to which I contribute.
Please advise us as to the professional credentials of the operators, then we can decide if this is a worthy recipient of our money. What is the background of the owners? Are the owner/operators certified in special education, health care, and/or early childhood education? If there is a profit, where does it go? If there is no profit, how does it stay in business? How much are parents charged to have their children accepted? (I am told, a lot) Why is this better than non-profits which charge nothing? How are the services superior?
I will gladly give, if there is transparency. But, I will not give charity to a for-profit enterprise.There are other, equally needy true non-profits out there.
Please correct me if I am mistaken, and I will deeply apologize.

[omani bint]

Hi Carnac, Very interesting question, which I am unable to answer. I first read about CLC here on this forum a few months back (I didn't even know they existed.) I went there and the place was pretty much in need of everything, from wheelchair ramps, gas pipe connections, outside shade,toys & equipments etc etc. I met the owner (kauwther) who told me they have no funds atall and children who desperetly need sponsorship to attend.She did say, that they were not yet registered as a charity, hence they could not give me collection tins to go out collecting, which I volunteered to do.Anyhow, I managed to get a few jobs done for them and pledges from local mosques to donate money. For the past few months, I haven't been there to visit and they have recently changed their name! The lady running it, told me they were qualified specialists in this field.
I totally agree, if they are a profit making business, I will be very dissapointed that I have been misled (thus, mis-leading others) and I will look for other deserving causes to help in the future. Can anyone, shed any light on this?

[omani bint]

This is what I read & responded to, on my F.B page. When they launched the "spare change drive" CLC is a center located in Al-Mawelah. Dedicated to helping the special needs children of Oman, as well as those with learning difficulties. lets all try to support this drive.... and to support the education of the poor families attending the center... please suggest to other friends and join our group support a special needs child's education at www.facebook.com
CLC is a center located in Al-Mawelah. Dedicated to helping the special needs children of Oman, as well as those with learning difficulties. lets all try to support this drive.... and to support the education of the poor families attending the center... please suggest to other friends and join our group support a special needs child's education at www.facebook.com

[carnac]

I have a real interest in the topic, probably because my youngest brother is a Down Syndrome person.
I give every bit of assistance I can to the Early Intervention Centre in Al Athaiba. They are professionals; they don't charge parents; they have an outreach program that goes directly to families that can't bring their children to the Centre. They have a long waiting list, and have been hampered by lack of space. So, they have been collecting funds to build a new, state-of-the art facility. They provide physical therapy, speech therapy, training in everyday life skills. They give training and assistance to families, assisting families with the skills they need to help their children grow and become as independent as possible. A significant difference with their program is that they use Montessori methodology in their effort to assist the children's development. They are sponsoring young Omani women to attend Nizwa University and gain certification in Special Education, so that the Centre and the outreach programmes can assist more families and children.
And, they do all of this through donations.
They do a wonderful job.
They are truly non-profit, and worthy of everything anyone can do to help.
So, I do everything I can.

[omani bint]

Yes, indeed, the early intervention centre in Azaiba, has an amazing reputation and I have been there on many ocassions. I have been home teaching one of their children who is now unable to attend due to medical reasons. I read last year, that they were also trying to raise funds. I do, personally feel, that not enough public awareness and funding is going their way. I will always do anything I can to help, such deserving causes.

[carnac]

It is all due to their Director. Incredible woman! She gets the best people she can, then leaves them alone without micromanaging (but watches everything!) When she can't get the right people, or enough of them, she "manufactures" them with training and schooling.The bottom line is always the children: the children are ALWAYS first, with everyone who works there. They give love.

[omani bint]

Kawthar
Subject: FOR THOSE THAT REALLY WANT TO HELP SUPPORT SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS.
This email is for those that are really interested in helping support these children... all others may delete it.

We have a lot of members in this group but only a handful of u are actually reaching out to help these children... may allah reward u for ur help... you few know who u are.

I have three issues here:

firstly, student sponsorships.
as of now i have 25 children on the list for sponsorships. I have gotten 2 sponsored which are confirmed. If u can not sponsor a child then see if u can find someone that can. People can sponsor in groups. Last year we had a group of 5 ladies from PDO sponsoring 2 children.

Next issue is an EVENT.... we are planning an event after Ramadan and we already have the band... we need a venue and of course a buffet to make it a successful event. So if anyone knows where anyone that would be sponsors or anyone willing to pay for the hall and food also let me know on that.... I will be meeting with someone from Bank Sohar next week to see if they will sponsor the event. Bank Sohar is our biggest sponsor. They sponsored our rent last year, which was paid to our old landlord in Al-Khuwair...

Donations: Donations are important to keep the center going.... U may think what u can donate is too small.... no amount is ever too small.... If someone donates 5 ro that will pay for a students breakfast and lunch for one day or for his transport for 2 or 3 days.... so a little bit can go a long way.

Thanks for the handful of u that actually joined this group to assist the center. We appreciate it, and the help u are trying to give us.

We have a bunch of things we have collected for the orphanage .... clothes, toys some videos if anyone would like to take it up to the orphanage please contact me... I physically do not have the time. One guy from the group has already taken one load up to the orphanage... so we need someone else that is also willing...

Warm wishes

Kawthar Al-Balushi
Co-founder Creative Learning Center

The above was on on F.B today

[poxy2325]

there is an exhibition on " volunteerism and social development " in december .

probably these type of associations can showcase what they are doing for the community and create greater visiblity about themselves. which will help them to generate funds for them from philinthropic oraganisations and individuals

[omani bint]

Thanks poxy2325, I will look out for more info, I am more than happy to help, but a little confused by the threads here. I want to help, those who are in GENUINE need.

[omani bint]

Latest message I have received.
To members of Support A Special Needs Child's Education

Ccr Oman28 July at 04:24 Reply
Dear Members,

I would like to that those that have donated to the center this past week. We have received two donations. Thanks to who ever you are, they have gone into the fund for the rent...

for anyone else that would like to donate please email me at balushia2@gmail.com and i will send u the details.

anyone that would like to sponsor a child please email me so i can send u the list of children.

We still need all of our members to help us. We opened this page for support. I hope our members will continue to support and donate to this center. These children need you. Remember every little amount count.... it goes for something that the center needs.

We also need people to help us tp plan the up coming event.

Regards
Kawthar Al-Balushi
Co-Founder and Managing Director

[macman]

If you ask me there is no smoke without fire and there has been a lot of negative publicity going around regarding CLC and its owner. Surprisingly there is no bad press at all with all other charitable institutions in oman. The others seems to get a lot of support and donations from the Corporate Bigwigs without trying too hard......Would love to know the truth.

[omani bint]

YES macman, please someone enlighten me.

[shimmertje]

From all the messages that Omani Bint has been posting, the CLC/Kawther appear to be running a non-profit organisation. If they are struggling so hard however, I would ask if their plans are too ambitious - it might make sense to only accept half the number of children they do so that they can afford the resources to serve every child better.

Additionally, the question that Carnac asks is very relevant - how much (if at all) are parents charged to have their children attend this centre? Where does this money go, given that the centre appears to be "in need of everything"?

On a related note, how much does it cost to sponsor a child, and do parents and sponsors pay the same amount? Again, where does this money go?

I think a nominal sum is OK as something free is often abused, but if it is a lot of money, similar to normal school fees, then I would ask where that money is going because it's clearly not being used for the infrastructure or to support more children.

Again, would it be fair to sponsor a child at this centre if the resources are so stretched? Why not donate in some other way - a month of rent etc?

Omani Bint, have these concerns ever been brought to the CLC, so that the air can be cleared once and for all? Carnac is the only one hinting that the CLC is a for-profit organisation. On the other hand, the CLC has never actually said it isn't one.

[omani bint]

I think, I will contact them and ask those questions. I am confused, because when I went there for my first visit( I learnt about them through this forum), they told me, that they were still trying to get registered and the Ministry were questioning if they were a charity? They are no longer called CLC.
lCcr OmanOur name has been changed to Creative Learning Center for Rehabilitation by the Ministry of Social Development!
will keep you posted

[carnac]

If I were an accountant, I would ask Kawther:
Is your personal bank account separate from your business account?
What is the current status of (a) your business account, and (b) your personal account? Can we see records for the past 3 years?
If there are separate accounts, are there transfers between them? When, for how much, and why?
Do you pay yourself a salary? How much and how often? Do you pay anyone else who is not an active participant in the business? How much, and why?
Is there a very clear distinction between what is for the children and what is for your own personal use? Who has access to the money?
When you collect money, how is it tracked? What records are kept? Where are the records kept? How is it deposited, and where? Who signs the cheques? Does a cheque require two signatures?
What other sources of income do you have?
Where does the money come from to pay for your apartment/villa/whatever, food, car?
How often is your staff paid? How much, for doing what?
What is their training? Who paid for it?
Where is the account for paying your staff? How much is in the account?
Do the children get snacks? Is there a special account for this, or is it mixed up with employee expenses? Toys? Teaching materials? Uniforms? Furniture? Mixed up with personal expenses?
Are the account books open for anyone to review? For instance, if I were to walk in tomorrow ands ask to look at financial records as a potential donor, would they be readily available?

Dear Shimmertje, I was too subtle with "hinting", perhaps. They are a "For Profit". I know this from my contacts with non-profits, who all know about this lady. Let's give her the benefit of the doubt: Let's assume she wants to do good things. However, she charged a lot of money for her potential "services", and people didn't come. So, she took out bank loans for her business, and is having trouble paying them. So, she asks for money. For the kids? Nope, for the loans.
Again, benefit of the doubt: Perhaps she means well. I would hope so. But, with no training or professional background in special education or business, the project is doomed without government money. And why should the government give money to a private enterprise?

Maybe they are somehow changing their status to a non-profit. Fine, but they need to find a competent business manager, or the same problems will happen.

And they need to learn to do more for the children than play with clay. They need professionalism, which is not now apparent.

Of course, this is only my opinion. I will stop; I'm getting grumpy.

[shimmertje]

I have no doubts that the lady in question means well and would like to help children.

But you can't run a business, or a charity, without clear separation of personal and third party accounts, even if you are losing money. And those accounts do need to show, as Carnac says, where the money is going. As a potential sponsor, I would not want my money going to service a loan.

Omani Bint, you might not actually get a truthful answer to your questions if the situation is as Carnac has painted. But if there are any inconsistencies in those answers, you would know for sure that SOMETHING is fishy.

[carnac]

Just for fun, I took a look at the CLC website to see what they said. I clicked on the link for autism, to see what they would explain. So far, fine.
Then, I took the first couple of sentences, and copy/pasted them into Google. (which is how I find out if my students are copying from the web.)
Here is the beginning of the CLC website posting on autism, with their link.

The severity of symptoms varies greatly between individuals, but all people with autism have some core symptoms in the areas of:

* Social interactions and relationships. Symptoms may include:
o Significant problems developing nonverbal communication skills, such as eye-to-eye gazing, facial expressions, and body posture.
o Failure to establish friendships with children the same age.
o Lack of interest in sharing enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people.
http://www.clc-oman.com/Autism.html

Here is what I got on the very first link in Google:

The severity of symptoms varies greatly between individuals, but all people with autism have some core symptoms in the areas of:
Social interactions and relationships. Symptoms may include:
Significant problems developing nonverbal communication skills, such as eye-to-eye gazing, facial expressions, and body posture.
Failure to establish friendships with children the same age.
Lack of interest in sharing enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people.
http://www.revolutionhealth.com/arti...ion=section_01

Yup, very professional to copy from another website with no attribution. Do some more comparing, and decide for yourself as to professionalism.