SensorySouk's Raana and Alison's story shared with Qatar Expat Women

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This video and article originally appeared on Qatar Expat Women's Facebook page (@Qatarmeetups) on 12/19/17.

Raana Smith has been living in Qatar for the past 10 years. She’s from Richmond, Virginia and attended Virginia Commonwealth University many moons ago! (Yep, the same VCU that now has a campus in Education City). Raana, her husband, and 7 year-old son love attending festivals around Qatar (food & film), spending time with extended family and spending time outdoors (mangroves, park, sailing) during the winter months.

Alison Saraf came to Qatar with her husband and two children in October 2012. Alison's husband works for RasGas and her three children go to GEMS American Academy, Qatar. They love the diversity of the country and what it teaches their children, the amazing array of foods and the wonderful winter weather.
They enjoy spending time with friends from all over the world here, visiting parks and the children enjoy a multitude of sports. They are very happy to call Qatar their second home for almost eight years.

Raana and Alison, who both have ‘special kids’, met over numerous encounters at their local therapy centre here in Doha, Qatar. Their boys have very different therapy needs but on numerous occasions we found ourselves chatting about our frustrations of not being able to source high quality therapy tools here in Doha.

Having both lived in the Middle East collectively for over twenty years and experienced first hand how it feels to raise a special child who, deserves the absolute best of services and support that we as parents can offer but, having no clue where to start!

Sensory Souk was born out of desire to create a network and community for parents who are on this journey with us. Our aim is to provide useful links and the latest updates on all things autism from the region and overseas. After all, knowledge is power! Sensory Souk is excited to support your child’s therapy programme with innovative products that also encourage play and learning.

Thank you QEW for sharing our story.

Best wishes to everyone, and if you need our support at any time please don't hesitate to
contact us at: +974 4478-8738 | +974 3011-7005

Raana and Alison