Princess Lalla Asmaa, President of the Lalla Asmaa Foundation, welcomed the First Lady of the Republic of El Salvador, Gabriela Rodríguez de Bukele, to the Foundation's headquarters in Rabat on Monday. The visit. part of a broader effort to promote experience-sharing and strengthen cooperation on initiatives supporting the inclusion of deaf children, spotlights the Foundation's role as a national and continental leader in care for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. During their tour, Princess Lalla Asmaa and the First Lady explored several areas of the Foundation and were briefed on its comprehensive model, which combines advanced medical care, rehabilitation, specialized education, psychosocial support, and family training. They also visited the Foundation's summer camp, including the educational greenhouse, and observed a variety of workshops and activities offered to the children, such as pottery, diorama-making, and clay sculpting. The visit continued with stops at the aerobics room, English and American Sign Language (ASL) classes, remedial classrooms, tech-enabled workshops, and the speech therapy room. On this occasion, Princess Lalla Asmaa and the First Lady were introduced to a robot designed to support sign language learning and an AI-powered speech therapy app. The application helps speech therapists assess, monitor, and support children's development through an interactive platform. It also assists families with at-home exercises and games, helping enhance children's language, listening, and communication skills based on scientific and clinical data. In line with the Foundation's humanitarian mission, twenty deaf children from El Salvador will soon receive specialized care and support in Morocco. This initiative is part of the Foundation's NASMAA program, launched in 2002, which has already provided surgeries and support to 800 Moroccan children and 240 children from 21 countries across Africa and the Middle East. This new phase highlights the expanding international scope of Morocco's humanitarian engagement in the field of hearing health. Further strengthening its global ties, the Lalla Asmaa Foundation has partnered with Gallaudet University in Washington, a world leader in higher education for the deaf, to develop new research, training, and exchange programs. The First Lady also learned about several of the Foundation's strategic partnerships, including three landmark agreements signed last June. These aim to boost digital inclusion, professional integration, and scientific cooperation, reinforcing the Foundation's commitment to supporting young people beyond school by equipping them with digital skills and facilitating academic and professional opportunities. Princess Lalla Asmaa and the First Lady also held bilateral discussions during the visit.
