It is estimated that approximately 23% of the Ugandan population has some form of disability, 3.5 million of which are children. On average, only 10% of people with disabilities receive supportive measures, technology, or instruments. Most of them die before their tenth birthday or grow up with secondary deformities and live a life of dependency. There are still many myths and beliefs surrounding disability that lead to stigma, discrimination and neglect of children with disabilities. The Special Children’s Trust was established to meet the needs of families with disabled children in whatever way possible, whilst also showing them the extent of the love God has for them and the family He blessed them with.
SCT provides services directly through Mukisa Foundation in Lungujja, Dawn Children’s Centre in Bukoto, and in collaboration with more than 80 organisations to provide Education, Healthcare, Advocacy and Awareness, Resource mobilization and Capacity building for parent, teachers, health workers, leaders and like-minded organisations.
With a staff team of 65 and a number of volunteers, SCT uses a unique child centred 360 model which focuses on all aspects of the child that usually present as barriers to the child’s social inclusion and participation to their God given potential.
SCT also conducts regular media outreach campaigns, and meets actively with legislators in Parliament, Government Officials, Parents, Community Leaders as well as Service Providers to ensure that children with disability are catered for at all levels of society.
Every year for the last six years, SCT has held an Awareness and Fun Day for children with disabilities that brings together children, families, leaders and well-wishers to create more awareness, as well as showcase the abilities of the children. In the last year over 1,000 children from different organizations participated in an awareness march, music, dance, sports and other fun activities.
Dawn was set up with the purpose of supporting working parents who have children with special needs, providing quality care for their child within the centre and providing the parents with the information and resources they require to understand and handle their child’s condition effectively.
In January 2012, Dawn expanded and grew to include Kindergarten classes and in 2016, started Primary Classes. The vision of Dawn Children’s Centre is to see children with Special needs and those without learning, growing and flourishing together to their full potential in an environment free of barriers and prejudices. Now a health Centre is being built that will include an inclusive school, a community health centre, a mobility hub, training facilities, therapy and recreation facilities.
The aim is to:
Three years ago Mukisa Foundation started an outreach on Bussi Island. Bussi is a small Island of about 10,000 people in Lake Victoria. Like many Islands in Uganda, the people on this Island have no access to basic services, and the children with disabilities, the elderly and those living with conditions such as HIV are most affected. The Mukisa team visits the Island once a month and offers Therapy, Nutritional and Medical Services, as well as referrals to hospitals on the mainland. Currently the services are carried out in an open field of the only government medical centre. Mukisa hopes to establish a centre on the Island, which will be home to the Outreach Clinics, a Vocational Skills Training and Apprenticeship Centre for youth with disabilities. The development of this ‘Mukisa Inclusive Village’ started mid this year, with the construction of a community hall.
SCT not only believes that every child is a precious gift that has to be given the opportunity to Explore, Learn and Flourish, but also that empowering children to reach their full potential is such a huge and important role that cannot be achieved by one individual organization. This is the reason why SCT is at the forefront of building a support network of organisations and individuals called ‘The Special Children’s Forum’ where members meet regularly to share experiences, and support one another, with the aim of creating a stronger voice for advocacy, networking and for referral purposes.
Through the forum, they have had very many awareness, advocacy and capacity building opportunities for individuals, organisations on disability issues. They were also involved in the creation of a screening tool for early identification of children who have disabilities. This tool has since been recognised and adopted by the Ministry of Education. Plans are underway to make it a national tool to be used in all schools and communities.
