Help Kenyan children with disabilities into school

Through the fantastic generosity of HATW's supporters, the Disability Community Centre (DCC) in Maua, Kenya, continues to nurture local children with disabilities – encouraging every boy and girl to develop their interests and talents, and supporting them to showcase and share these gifts with one another. Most recently, the DCC held a children’s forum to bring together children from the different special schools supported by the project.

The event provided an opportunity to interact and share the challenges faced by the institutions as well as celebrate successes. It was also a chance for the children with special needs to demonstrate their talents in song, dance and poems, providing a platform from which to express themselves and to inspire each other. You’ll find some wonderful pictures of the children’s forum included with this report.

HATW also recently made a combined effort with the mobility charity Motivation Africa to provide the DCC with 40 new wheelchairs and associated assembly, fitting and user training. HATW also continues to support the provision of sitting and standing aids to children who require such assistance to participate in daily life and the activities at the DCC. These initiatives are part of the DCC’s commitment to providing children with disabilities access to high quality equipment and support, helping ensure that they are able to succeed in their endeavours no matter the challenges they face.

The Disability Community Centre continues to provide assistive devices to children with disabilities. Some of these essential items are the sitting and standing aids. These devices are used by children who have a challenge in standing and/or sitting. They are essential in ensuring the children are able to participate in daily activities including joining the family routine and participating in play activities with other children.

The challenge is that the conventional sitting and standing aids are beyond the reach of most of the parents due to the cost. The DCC has embarked on making these items through appropriate technology. They are being manufactured using simple items such as paper and cardboard. The cost of the DCC item is just a fraction of the price of the conventional ones (less than a quarter of the cost). But some parents still cannot afford the cheaper DCC items. Please consider a donation if you would like to help these families. 

The pictures below demonstrate the process of making the items as well as children enjoying the end products...