Msandaka and Mwereni schools!

Monday and today, we were out in the community visiting schools for a project with our clinic manager and a teacher from the U.S.  The aim of the study is to determine if secondary schools (8-11grade) are as accessible and conducive to learning for children with disabilities as the primary schools (1-7 grade).  We visited 3 schools, 2 primary and 1 secondary school.  The secondary school was in no way accessible for the students in wheelchairs, the students who knew sign language were signing for the deaf students, and the facilities were extremely run down and filthy.  However, I was extremely impressed with the primary schools, and therefore, will focus my blog on those 2 schools.  

The first primary school we visited was Msandaka boarding school for the deaf.  All the students, as well as 1 of the teachers, had hearing impairments and the classrooms were catered towards that.  They had 10-12 students per class with the desks arranged in a semi-circle at the very front of the classroom so that all students could see the teacher and one another.  Visual perception is extremely important for these children since their only way to learn and communicate is through sign language and reading lips.  The dormitories, dining hall and computer lab were all impressive as well.  The few challenges that Msandaka is faced with are a lack of teachers (4-6 teachers for over 10 classes), no transportation for emergencies or to transport food to the school, no text books, and no printer/copier for exams and assignments.  But all in all, they are doing far better than the secondary schools.

The desk arrangements.  We even signed our names to each class :)

The second school primary school we visited was Mwereni boarding school for the blind.  This was a much larger school because it accepts blind and visually impaired students as well as students with out disabilities.  There were approx 600 students of which 75 had visual impairments.  The classrooms were arranged so that the kids with visual impairments (but still with some vision) sat at the front to aid with reading the board and seeing the teachers.  Some of the other benefits of Mwereni are all the teachers who have blind students in their classroom are trained in Braille, they have Braille typewriters and some texts, there is a nurse on site and a dentist visits once a month, and they have computers with fancy systems that allow blind students to use the computers.  When asked what improvements could be made to the school the response was, the availability of more Braille tests, paved paths so that the blind students would have an easier time walking to class (especially when it rains), more canes and appropriately sized canes for the students, and more adaptive sports equipment.

One of the classrooms with the visually impaired kids up front

Learning how to type Braille 

I was blown away by the intelligence and positive attitudes of the children we visited at the schools.  Definitely a humbling and inspirational experience!

~ Krista