When we first set up our center in 2007 at Nyange, just outside the main town of Musanze, we had just five students. By the end of 2011, our Deaf
Children Center was providing education and training for 76 children and youth, aged between 5 and 21. In 2012 we expect to welcome about 90 children to the DCC
All
are residential during the school year. This is because nearly all live too far from school to walk, and it can also be particularly dangerous for children who are hearing
impaired or have learning disabilities to make the daily journey on foot
We believe all children are entitled to an education applicable to their
circumstances and free from discrimination. We offer our children a loving
and caring environment where they can develop literacy and life skills,
enabling them to communicate effectively with teachers, staff and friends at
school, as well as flourish within their families and society as a whole.
We all love recognition and it is particularly important for children who have often been severely marginalized before coming to our Center. This is a reason we were specially pleased when DCC children received special acknowledgment at a public meeting in Musanze during the visit of Rwanda Prime Minister, Pierre Habumuremyi, on World Food Day on October 16 2011 (see photo right)
At the end of this year we also received wonderful confirmation that our faith in our children's ability to learn and thrive with appropriate care and education is well placed. Two of our older students were accepted on a two month trainee chef program at prestigious Sabyinyo Lodge which caters to international visitors to the Volcanoes National Park and the Mountain Gorillas. We are very proud of our two young pioneers (see photo below right of our trainees with the head chef and another member of his kitchen team). Together with Sabyinyo Lodge, they are blazing a new trail in Rwandan achievement among the hearing impaired
What We Teach
Our children learn English, Math, Science and Social Studies (all in
English), as well as Kinya-Rwanda, French and Sign Language. They are taught
to lipread and encouraged to talk to make themselves understood. All are tested by
audiometer to determine and monitor their level of deafness
Many of our children have
learning difficulties as well as or instead of hearing impairment, and we
offer full support, guidance and counseling to them and their caretakers
Older children also
learn vocational skills: wood carving, embroidery, knitting tailoring, and basket
making. All enjoy working in the DCC vegetable garden where they learn
useful survival skills in food security as well as helping to grow their
food while at the center
Classes
At present we have four classes, Primary 1-4. Two boys completed Primary 6
at a local Primary School in 2011, after their teachers had attended several training
sessions at DCC
Six of our more capable students from P3 were sponsored by generous donors to receive residential schooling at Wisdom Primary School in 2011. This was a major experiment and quite challenge for all, especially at first. We are so happy to be able to report that the children settled quickly, were well supported throughout the year by teachers, volunteers and fellow classmates, and performed in class to high standards
Giving our children an opportunity to
integrate more fully in the mainstream has always been our goal. This first year has been a success and the experience was educational for deaf and hearing
pupils (and teachers) alike. We hope to find additional sponsors in 2012 for more children who are ready to transfer and we are now training all Wisdom Primary teachers in sign language
Staff
Louis Ngabonziza, our school Director, has worked with deaf children for 16 years. Teachers Justine-Noelle Mukanoheri (deaf herself) and Noel Birimana receive valuable support in teaching as well as pastoral care of the students from social worker and matron Rose Ingabire. Claude Gasigwa Claude, our loyal cook and guard
ensures health and security remain strong at the center and we are fortunate to share a
qualified school nurse with Wisdom School
Visitors
Another lively team of volunteers from our major UK sponsor came to Musanze for a week in 2011, in a visit arranged by our partner, Jubilee Action. Think Money's Team Rwanda 2011 organized our children in jewelry making,
football, arts and crafts. This year's visit highlights included the childrens' photography class and the now eagerly awaited and highly-contested annual soccer competition
with Wisdom Primary School. One volunteer's comment on the star player of the tournament: "His determination to see his children succeed in life by giving them a fantastic education is matched only by his determination to win the Think Money 'Rwandan World Cup'!” Yes, the deaf school may have lost narrowly but 'player of the day' was none other than our Director Louis of the Deaf Children Center!
In June, our good friend Bill Snyder from Concordia College in Minnesota once again brought students to volunteer at FCYF. Concordia have been visiting for several years now and we are so grateful to them for their year-round fund-raising efforts back in the USA. Other Individual volunteers from both the USA and England have also interned at
DCC during the year. We welcome visitors and hope to receive more in 2012
Hearing Evaluation and Aids
We have been delighted to receive specialist support from several audiologists and external bodies. As a result, during 2011, we have built on early work in evaluating students in school and the community with a donated audiology machine
An enthusiastic visit to Musanze from a company that donated hearing aids was useful for it confirmed that with most of our students second hand aids are usually of limited value. For such devices to be comfortable and effective, children typically need to be fitted with aids specifically adapted to their auditory needs and moulded to the shape of their ears. Still, the wonder and delight for some children when able to hear for the first time in their life through the donated aids
Later in the year, we welcomed an audiologist for a week from the Seashell Trust (the UK's long established Royal School for the Deaf and Communication Disorders). She conducted individual evaluations, and measurements for moulds where aids can be of use, for more than 50 children in our school and in the community. This was so valuable because careful individualized testing enables us to identify which children can have aids fitted that will then enable them to attend primary schools near their homes, and which among them are more severely hearing impaired and will benefit from the more specialized and intensive education, including sign language and lip reading which we offer at the DCC |
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Financial Support
The Deaf Children Centre is run almost entirely on donations, as most children and their families have no means to pay residential school fees. We are very grateful for strong support from our alliance with Jubilee Action and their donor Think Money in the UK and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the future
We also thank the many individuals and groups of donors who have given so generously to the DCC in 2011. The school grows to try and meet a huge unmet need for deaf education and training, both within Musanze and in Rwanda as a whole. There are so many more children we could help. Official reports are that only 3% of deaf Rwandan children attend school and our own research in villages suggests that the true figure may be as low as 1%. We are one of only six schools in Rwanda that cater specifically for the deaf
During the short life of our center, we have watched so many of the children whom we have the privilege to teach join our school and blossom from scared, lonely and isolated small children into happy, healthy and confident youths. We cherish all these beloved beings in our care. They are our teachers and they are living proof that deafness and disability need never be a hurdle to a happy, secure and successful life
We still only scratch the surface of the huge need in our country for special facilities and support to the hearing impaired, but we are so grateful for all the many people who are joining with us and sharing our goal to give deaf children in Musanze, and more widely in Rwanda, the start in life that they need and deserve
If you would like to support our Deaf Children Center with a donation, please go to the DONATE! link on our sidebar and get full details. It's so easy!
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