Education for children with disabilities, Kenya

Recently, both regional and global factors have added to the challenges experienced by this project. East Africa, including parts of Kenya, is experiencing the worst drought for over 40 years, and global economic factors, and the war in Ukraine are also having serious consequences in Kenya, causing dramatic price rises especially in food and fuel. These issues put additional strain on our schools and mean external assistance has never been more critical or more appreciated.

Despite the additional challenges, our Special Education Units at Mitaboni and Thinu are managing to keep running, continuing to provide an education appropriate to the needs of children with learning disabilities. In the last few months, in addition to the school’s classroom-based activities, teachers at Thinu Special Unit have extended their work into the community making follow-up visits to the homes of school-leavers who have previously been trained and supported to make successful transitions into adult-life. Five students started sustainable ‘home-programmes’ in the last two years, four rearing dairy cows and one has a sheep keeping enterprise. We are pleased to report that all five are doing well since leaving school. Through good care, the livestock numbers have multiplied, and the families are benefitting from the milk and meat production. These productive activities not only contribute to the family incomes, particularly crucial at this time, but also build the school-leavers’ self-esteem and independence, and contribute to changing negative perceptions of disability in their local communities.