ABU DHABI // While most people surrounded themselves with crowds to celebrate the UAE's 40th anniversary, little Alyazia had only one person she wished to see.
Alyazia, 9, who is autistic, just wanted to meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
On Thursday, Sheikh Mohammed visited her school and made her wish come true.
The state news agency Wam reported Alyazia, who is officially an orphan because her father is dead, had "written on her notebook with her fingers dipped in paint, 'To Baba Mohammed, I wish I could see you and you see me'."
On Wednesday night her message was shown on television as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations.
"Alyazia, though deprived of many abilities of the children of her age, had helped her widowed mother to design the UAE flag with painted pebbles," Wam reported. The flag was 20 metres long, 5 metres wide and consisted of almost 13,500 pebbles. It decorated the entrance to the school.
While at the school, Sheikh Mohammed chatted with the students about their ideas and encouraged them to achieve their goals and turn their dreams into reality.
