Empower 35 students with disability in Tanzania

EMPOWER OVER 30 STUDENTS WITH DISABILITY IN TANZANIA, REPORT NUMBER 7: MAIN ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF STEP BY STEP LEARNING CENTRE, SSLC, JANUARY - APRIL 2022.

  INTRODUCTION: This report will summarise the main activities and achievements from January to April 2022 vis a vis our vision, mission, goals and activities. So far this year has seen an increase in both the number of students and the projects despite the slow recovery from the negative effects of covid.

MISSION STATEMENT

SSLC’s mission is to promote the physical, intellectual, psychological and social development of each child through a holistic educational provision in an inclusive, empathetic, respectful, positive and stimulating environment so that special needs students and their families feel safe, accepted and loved. Staff use child-centered training and learning methods to encourage all children, including those having severe disabilities, to reach their maximum potential.

 VISION STATEMENT

SSLC aims to grow its capacity to provide a safe and stimulating learning and working environment for mentally and severely physically challenged students for as long as they need such support to progressively improve and learn appropriate Life and Job skills in order to achieve a degree of independence and dignity.

 MAIN GOALS

1. Twenty young students (age 6 to 17) with mental and physical challenges will access appropriate education, life skills training and appropriate therapy.
2. Thirteen young adults (over 18) with mental and physical challenges will get training in Job skills and thereafter employment, income, self-esteem, confidence and emotional empowerment.
3. Six Income Generating Projects (IGPs) will receive enough input to become viable and self-sustainable.
4. Fourteen Staff will receive support to provide compassionate, high quality holistic teaching, training and therapy to SSLC students.

 MAIN ACTIVITIES

1. Drawing an Individual Learning Program (ILP) for each student with input from his/her parents or guardians, then setting goals for each student
2. Conducting one on one, Hand over hand, Experiential - hands on teaching and training the young students in basic functional literacy and life skills
3. Providing professional therapies (Physiotherapy, Reflexology, Occupational Therapy and Speech Training plus Music, Dance, Art and Crafts.
4. Training and mentoring young adults on the job in the Income Generating Projects (IGPs): jewelry making from beads; gardening and Livestock keeping of cows, sheep, chicken, fish and bees.
5. Expanding the IGPs and professionalizing the job skills to make the projects financially viable and sustainable.
6. Providing administrative and support services to the program.
7. Collaborating with parents, community leaders and other similar programs in order to advocate for the rights of the disabled and sell the SSLC model.
8. Participating in advocacy activities like Autism, Down Syndrome and Disabilility International days

STAKEHOLDERS: This year, our numbers of stakeholders went up to a total of 222 project participants and beneficiaries (115 females and 107 males). These were students, staff, parents/ guardians and their families.

 JUNIOR CORE PROGRAM (AGES 3 TO 17)

All our young students of 2021 came back to school this year and we have added four new students totaling 20 students with varying degrees of physical and mental challenges: 8 with autism, 9 cerebral palsy, 2 Downs Syndrome and 1 Slow Learner. Attendance for most of the students is very good now. Over 80% of the students were able to attend school 80% and above of the time. 80% and above of the students met the goals set in their Individual Learning Programs (ILPs). With very popular celebrations of International Days of Autism (April) and Down Syndrome (March) there was a growing list of other young students waiting to enroll.

 HOME BASED PROGRAM (HBP)

The HBP served 4 students who could not attend school due to distance, did ficult family circumstances and severe physical challenges. Teachers made home visits on Fridays to give them a full day focus . These students will be invited to come with their parents/guardians in August to to get proffesional assessment and attend intensive physiotherapy workshop with two professors and third year university students from USA.

 ADULT PROGRAM (AGES 18 AND ABOVE)

This year we have13 adult students (1 new) most of them graduates from the Junior Program: 4 are living with autism, 2 cerebral palsy,3 Down’s syndrome, 2 slow learners, 1 albinism and 1 Pfeiffer’s type I syndrome. They have made good strides in learning job/employment skills in the Income generating projects (IGPs). They raised quite a bit of income from sales of their products: jewelry, vegetables, pawpaws, guava, oranges, beetroot, chicken and milk.

One heartwarming story of an Adult Student is that of the new student Peninah. She was one of the pioneer students in 2005 when I started SSLC in a small room in a show ground. After a while her family moved to England and we never heard from them again. When they came to Tanzania this year, her Mum told me that she was shocked to find Peninah's best friend Doreen, who used to be worse than Peninah, very active now, confident and doing very well at SSLC. She asked to bring Peninah back to SSLC! This week she got another shock seeing videos of Peninah enjoying feeding our cows, chicken and fish and mulching the fruit trees. she had never done such therapeutic activities before.

  ADVOCACY

SSLC was an active participant on March 21st and April 2nd when we marched around town on International Down Syndrome and Autism Awareness Days. It was very encouraging and rewarding to see over 400 students with disabilities and their teachers, parents/guardians and supporters celebrating  with full awareness the fact that disability is not inability!

 MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS

• Admitted 4 new students
• Wrote 3 main proposals
• Became a partner to Accessible Hope International (AHI) and organized a Theology of Disability Training of Trainers (ToD TOT) workshop with them at SSLC
• Hosted and worked with one remote Astralian Volunter and two American on site University Student Interns
• Hosted The Australian High Commissioner to Tanzania who gave us a very positive appraisal 

 SUSTAINABILITY

SSLC is supported by donations, grants, student Sponsors and Volunteers.  The Income Generating Projects grew, improved and are on their way to becoming viable Social Enterprises. However, we are still slowly recovering from the negative impacts of COVID-19, Delta and  Omicron.. We have lost support from one major donor and so are grateful to be able to write new proposals, get new partners and step up our fundraising on Globa lGiving this year, 2022. It was great to participate in the Little by Little campaign.