Kenya
Poverty and stigma mean that deaf children are often left out of their families and communities. Our research showed that many families in Kenya think that a deaf child has “no profit” and is not worth investing in. With our partners, we are working to change this.
The majority of the estimated 230,000 Kenyan deaf children have hearing parents and live below the poverty line, as few as 3,600 are in schools for the deaf. Many of these children are denied their rights to free primary education, protection from abuse and neglect and inclusion in family and community. Read more here about three local partner organisations who we are working with to bring about real change for deaf children, empowering them to realise their rights and enjoy equal access to health, education and participation in family and community life.
Little Rock Inclusive Early Childhood Development Centre
Little Rock is located in Kibera slum, Nairobi. It provides pre-primary babies and children with early stimulation and development opportunities as well a safe place to play and learn whilst their parents are at work. In Kibera slum few children have such opportunities. Early years support for deaf children and their families is particularly crucial, however, since deaf children face significant communication challenges and usually enter primary school lacking in basic communication skills and unprepared for formal learning. This leads to a high drop-out rate and poor marks. We hope that our work with Little Rock will provide a model for low-cost early years support and will provide evidence of how much deaf children can achieve with the right support in the early years.
Undugu Society of Kenya
The Undugu Society of Kenya was established in 1975 to respond to the needs of children and youth living and working on the streets. The Undugu Society, anxious to reach out to the most vulnerable populations, recently held a deaf awareness workshop for its staff, facilitated by Deaf Child Worldwide and has now begun a new programme to promote the inclusion of deaf chidlren. We aim to support the Undugu Society to increase understanding and awareness of deaf issues amongst youth associations, and to develop its skills to include deaf children and youth in their street outreach work in Nairobi. It is anticipated that this work will enable Undugu Society to learn more about the situation of deaf children on the streets, and to develop appropriate programmes to protect deaf children from immediate risk, reintegrate them with their families where possible, and access education and vocational training, giving them the opportunity to fulfill their potential alongside their hearing peers.
Kenya Society for Deaf Children
In 2008, Deaf Child Worldwide received funding from the UK Department for International Development to carry out a 5-year programme working in 6 regions of Kenya. This programme, 'Rights for deaf children and their families', will work with the Kenya Society for Deaf Children to establish groups of families with deaf children. It will give more than 1,000 parents access to information about deafness and Kenyan Sign Language skills giving them a chance to communicate with their children for the first time. We will also work to support these family groups to develop local level advocacy projects raising awareness of the rights of deaf children in their communities and ensuring governments deliver adequate services.
To date, training materials have been developed and through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Kenya Ministry of Education and the Kenya Society for Deaf Children, District Coordinators have been recruited to facilitate training and access to services as well as support families to form advocacy and peer support groups.The first sensitisation and training workshops have now taken place and were met with very positive feedback, with participants calling the training 'a turning point in my relations with my deaf child' and 'an eye opener.'
One parent told us: “We are so happy to be here. We have travelled a long way but we have learnt a lot. Our children will be so happy when we come home and they see that we are learning how to communicate with them! When we go back we will be teaching the other parents what we have learnt so that they too can understand everything about their deaf children. We will tell them to come the next time.”
Learning with our partners in Kenya
This 5-year programme builds on our previous experience working with the Kenya Society for Deaf Children and other local organisations to improve the lives of deaf children and their families. Since 2004, we have:
- supported over 120 families in Nairobi slums and 80 parents in rural Kitui district to learn Kenyan Sign Language and develop more positive attitudes towards their deaf children
- supported the establishment of seven self help groups for families of deaf children
- delivered life skills training to 80 young deaf people living in residential schools covering children’s rights, sexual health and protection, relationships, identity and self esteem
- Together with deaf young people, produced a Deaf Children's Manifesto and facilitated these young people to present the manifesto to the Vice President, the Hon Moody Awori.
