One of the most moving experiences I had in Kenya was visiting the Tom Mboya School for Cerebral Palsy which is located in the port city of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean. Their motto is "Disability Is Not Inability." The school was started in 1995 by parents of kids with CP with the help of the Kenyan Ministry of Education. In an area with a population of about 3 million people, Tom Mboya is the only school that specifically serves these children--and it does this on a shoe-string budget. At the moment, it can only accommodate 90 children!
Many of the children have multiple disabilities in addition to CP such as autism and developmental disabilities. Some are bright but because of their CP cannot talk or control their movements. Yet, they are learning to read, do arithmetic, and articulate their needs, thoughts, and desires with the help of dedicated teachers and staff. The school also provides physical and occupational therapy and feeds all the children lunch. Their aim to make each child as self-reliant as she or he can be, to develop their mobility and speech and language skills and to provide them with an education. The school receives some funding from the national and municipal governments (Kenya does have free primary education) but it is not enough to address the needs of the school so parents are requested to contribute 2000 KSH per term (about $25). Most families cannot afford this but the school never discharges a student if the parents can't pay.
The teachers and staff are incredibly dedicated. In addition to teaching and therapy, they provide emotional support and help the kids with feeding and getting from one room to another. The school also provides transportation since most families have no way of getting their kids to school.
No comments:
Post a Comment