REPORT FOR GOOD SHEPHERD SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOL 2011

Mr Peter Mount, the Chairman of HUGS (Helping Uganda Schools) your Trustees, the Presentative of our Superior General, Rev. Dr. Fr. Paschal, the Management Committee, LC1, the Parents, the Staff, Ladies and Gentlemen, our beloved Children. Allow me to begin by thanking all of you for honouring the day when we host our friends and donors from England. Your presence was an affirmation of your profound commitment to this segment of our position, in attending the needs of the many special needs Children particularly from this region, of who have had little or no attention by the mainstream education system. Although there is a policy emphasizing inclusion that is pupils with special needs learn together with the normal pupils, this has not been beneficial to the majority children with special needs due to large class size, lack of special facilities, instructional materials and many other needs.

The challenge is great but in an effort to put on board the disadvantaged Children like these ones, we had to make a start and thank God for having enabled us to meet our Donors who were present at the event and for your overwhelming support. The step we have taken so far is promising! The School has got off to a flying start; it is a good way towards meeting its first objectives.

‘Disability is not mean inability.’ These Children deserve equal treatment because there is living evidence to justify that people with special needs can perform better as well as the normal ones when given the opportunity or even better, they can excel into citizens, who are helpful to the Nation, some of such people who are equally competent and are performing well to help themselves and the entire Nation. So starting this school and sensitizing the Parents and the whole public about importance of Children with disabilities have been of great help. This will remind the People of Uganda our Motto that Disability does not mean inability.

ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

Assessment exercise which was carried out by Dr Patricia Pscampion in 2008, where over 400 Children were seen, half of whom specifically had a learning difficulty, often the result was cerebral malaria, also the most common cause cited by parents during the exercise was malaria, typhoid and malnutrition. So after the exercise we came up with six objectives for the school:

OBJECTIVES

The original intention of starting a Special Needs School was to have Children complete the Primary cycle and continue to Secondary level. Another aim of the school is to enable children with a learning difficulty that cannot access normal school because of physical, intellectual, behavioural, sensory and psychological factors, to benefit from an education that will raise their status and value within their community, foster their long term self-sufficiency and help to protect them from exploitation. Our target group is the School going Children with disabilities and other special needs, working hand in hand with Parents, the Community, the Government, Banyatereza Sisters and HUGS. There is a saying in Rutooro, ‘Omwana taba womu’ meaning a Child belong to all elders locally and internationally.

CURRENT POSITION

As previously mentioned Good Shepherd School is the only Special Needs School of its kind in Fort Portal, and in the whole of Western Region. It started in 2008 with 40 children. This year (2011) the enrolment has increased to over 90 Children, and 11 teachers. Children have been admitted to this school aged 4 to 17 years, all with a learning difficulty. Formal assessment of their problems and needs is done by Dr. Patricia every year. At the moment a school has six classrooms that is from Nursery up to Primary six.

Categories of disabilities we have in this school:

•   Visual impairment (2)
•   Speech and hearing impairment (6)
•   Physical (4)
•   Intellectual impairment (50)
•   Speech, language and communication problems (4)
•   Medical problems (5)
•   Behaviour disorder (20)

It is important to remember that not all disabilities are clearly visible and not all visible disabilities give special learning problems. For example, it may be difficult to identify a hearing loss or some visual impairment, which may interfere with a child’s learning, while a child with an obvious disability may have no problems at all in learning at school once he/she is helped to come to school. If theses children’s special disabilities are addressed with relevant learning programmes they could be like any other normal children, and become useful citizens themselves or himself only but also to their society at large.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The school is set within five and a half acres of land with a Land Title. The Head teacher reports regularly to a Management Board composed of nine members of the local community, where the Superior General of the Banyatereza Sisters is the chairperson of the Board.

The staffing is in place, six classroom blocks have been constructed and a further three, hall and two storerooms are due to be completed by March 2011. This will allow two rooms to be used for teaching primary six and seven. The hall will be used as a quiet room for individual tuition, language and behavioural work and counselling. Also the hall will be used for parent to parent support systems and meetings. A pit latrine has been constructed, a designated playground area which requires development. The kitchen, two stores and a keeper’s room have also been constructed, more to that, a guest house and a kitchen. Water and electricity has been installed and four computers have been put in place. Also the project has four pigs, five piglets, three cows and a male calf (Bruno). Also we have six dairy goats, a few chickens and a pond of fish in future these may also provide some income in due course.

The land which is currently not used for teaching purposes is being used for farming and cultivation of vegetables and other crops to feed the children and the Staff.

Vocational Class

The aim of putting up this vocational class was to help children who are 16 years and above who cannot cope with academic or intellectual demands and yet they are majority. When these children delay going to school they mature, and start meeting problems and many other misfortunes which can befall on them such as, sex harassment and drug abuse, more especially boys when they stay redundant in villages. Also Child abuse more especially the girls who are vulnerable to rape, sexual abuse of every kind, early marriages even if they are disabled, all these result into being affected by AIDS and other sexual diseases. However, such children love school and they have interest in handwork or practical skills. Given the chance and skills, they would make certain crafts as reflected in some work they have already done, which could earn them a source of income for their future survival, because most of them come from a very needy background. After being equipped with practical skills, they can feel they are worthy human beings and useful citizens with a future.

Among other achievements through HUGS, is that each child in this school received a well treated mosquito net for preventing malaria, which is a big problem in the area.

Another big achievement, which we cannot forget to thank God for, we received Visitors from the Netherlands who were very much impressed and touched for the development which has been done in such a short space of time, and also the arrangement of the whole environment. In there appreciation they gave us a donation of fifty million Uganda shillings to finish off the three classroom block and the hall.

The school has taken its first few hesitant steps on the road to changing attitudes toward disability, and setting itself up to eradicate or act as a role model for the wider community, a vivid example, Parents have started seeing the benefits of their children who have improved greatly in learning, in health ways and behavioural change, this is confirmed when we had parents’ meeting at the end of last year, we were very much encouraged by the reports remarks given by Parents that their children have improved greatly.

DEVELOPMENTS

Good Shepherd Special School has the potential to develop any or all of the following projects for the benefit of its catchments Child population:

•   Expansion of the core school facility
•   More land for farming
•   A grind mill
•   The income generating project for the expansion of the Guest house
•   A mini bus for collecting children and taking them for educational tours
•   The Development of an out reach, working with the most severely disabled children 
•   The development of Parent to Parent systems  

NEEDS OF THE SCHOOL

•   Accommodation for the Staff, as most of them are coming from far
•   The development of a vocational training-buying sewing machine,more computer sewing and knitting machine for sweaters, tool box for carpentry
•   More classroom furniture
•   The development of Parent and youth support systems
•   The development of secondary provision
•   The development of the playground and playing materials
•   Extension of the compound
•   Walking equipments for physically disabled children and soft plays
•   Septic tank for clean healthy water
•   Renovation of school structures
•   Replacing the tipper truck and a fence next year

Clinical Support

•   A nurse
•   Physiotherapy
•   Speech and language therapy-sign language
•   Medicine for first aid

APPRECIATION

For all the above achievements that couldn’t be achieved, without the People of good will, so fist and foremost I thank the Good Lord (the Good Shepherd), who has created you with genuine Love, Kindness and Generosity. I am assured that God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones.

I genuinely appreciate the good work done by HUGS, so Mr. Peter W Mount, the Chairman and your trustees, this dream would not have been true had it not been for your effort. On behalf of those people who were present, I thank you very much for your overwhelming support; I promise we won’t let you down! Thank you very much our friend may the Good Lord bless your efforts! We also wholeheartedly your colleagues and Trustees, whom you work with namely: Matt, Phil, Bob and others, for your support and team spirit. I a special way I thank all the supporters of HUGS more especially Mr. Mike and his wife Jean, who contributed greatly to the increment of our teachers’ salaries, we thank you for your kindness and generous heart, God bless you too.

An appreciation also goes to the Superior General, and all the Banyatereza Sisters, for the support and encouragement from the start of this school to date.

I thank Dr. Fr. Paschal for his fatherly love and support by donating a bull to our school.

I also thank Dr. Patricia Pscampion for the assessment exercise, which was very successful and useful because we realized that here was a great need, how these parents and their children needed our help. It was also an eye opener, to start sensitizing and develop workshops so as to guide them on how to feed their children with a balanced diet, encourage them to sleep under mosquito treated nets and keep the environment clean and clear. Also to teach parents exercises more especially for children with weak limbs and bones. We also realized that even if some of these children were attending school it was clear that despite every effort by their teachers their needs were often not being met. Also Dr. Patricia sponsored our little Asumpta, who was moving on her bottom to be operated upon from COURSU Children’s hospital, now she is walking on her two feet. Also Patricia has even been soliciting money for a vehicle in order to develop the out reach.

We also thank the District Officer Karole district and his technical staff for their technical advice, constant monitoring, and corrections and follow up visits.

The School Management Committee we have unreserved appreciation for the Spirit of voluntarism and Commitment. We also thank the Parents for working hand in hand with us.

To the teaching and non-teaching staff I thank you all for your love and dedication you have for the school and accepting to be part of the school, our beloved children to accept being nurtured by your teachers. Not forgetting LC1 of this area where our school is situated for good work you are doing.

To Chief Guest, Ladies and Gentlemen, once again i thank you for honouring us with your support. I invite you to register yourselves as permanent members in the promotion of this noble cause. You are always welcome to visit us.

When we see where we have come from and where we currently are, there is all the hope and assurance that we shall be where we want to be! 

God bless you all as our motto goes, 

‘EVERY CHILD HAS A RIGHT TO EDUCATION, DISABILITY DOES NOT MEAN INABILITY’

FOR MY GOD AND MY COUNTRY