Background
NYAMUGA Special School for physically and mentally disabled students is an elementary school and boarding school located on the east side of Rusinga Island, about 2 km from Mbita town. Rusinga Island is located in Lake Victoria in the west of Kenya. Our association BaRuIs e.V. has already supported the school extensively with mobility aids and bedding for the boarding students in 2022 (see news from 2022/01/22).
With the new education system that the government has now introduced for the Junior School, the school has enrolled more students this year, which has led to a further shortage of bedding and mobility aids. Last year, the school had a total of 212 students from first to eighth grade, and after the introduction of the new system, the school has enrolled 274 students, and we still expect the number to continue to increase at the next intake, which is scheduled for December 2023. Due to the current increase in student numbers this year and our projections for the next cohort, our partner association KWEPU is applying for the aid mentioned below so that these disadvantaged students can also have access to better learning conditions and later fulfill their potential in society.
The facility’s mission to provide an enabling environment so that students with special needs have equal access to quality and relevant education to stand on their own two feet and fully integrate into the community cannot be met due to a lack of basic materials.
Poverty is often the cause of the lack of the above mentioned things in the institution. Most parents do not have reliable and sustainable sources of income as they are mainly fishermen and farmers. The overfishing of the lake has had a negative impact on their net income, which has resulted in most parents not being able to provide students with all relevant learning materials. This is evident in the number of students who go to school without satchels to carry their books.
Parents should provide their children with a full school uniform, but a significant number of students still do not have uniforms, and they feel abandoned and neglected because children with special needs are at higher risk in society, which negatively affects their social and academic skills. Children with disabilities always suffer the most in families living below the poverty index because parents would rather give the most attention to the other category.
Targets
- We are committed to ensuring that these physically and mentally disabled children have access to a supportive learning environment to acquire a quality and relevant education that will enable them to be independent and fully integrated into the community, because disability is not incapacity,
- We work to create a society where the vulnerable group of people are able to live a dignified life with equal and just access to a better future,
- and for the expansion of the facility to accommodate more children who are still at home due to insufficient aids for the physically disabled at school.
Requirements
To achieve the above goals, the facility needs the following, among other things:
| 1) | Mattresses: 30 foam mattresses | 770 € |
| 2) | Bedding: 40 duvets, sheets and mosquito nets | 1.000 € |
| 3) | Mobility aids: 5 wheelchairs and chairs and tables | 1.450 € |
| 4) | Grants for school uniforms and school bags for 140 children | 2.200 € |
Should the facility be assisted in obtaining the above items, we anticipate that this will enable them to provide quality services to these less fortunate individuals.
SUPPORT WELCOME
KWEPU and the children of NYAMUGA School need our support. With a total of 5.420 € support a lot can be achieved for many children.
Do you like this initiative and want to give the children of the NYAMUGA school on Rusinga a chance?
Donation account
Badilisha Rusinga Island e.V. (BaRuIs e.V.)
IBAN: DE42 4306 0967 1170 0387 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
GLS Gemeinschaftsbank Bochum eG
Reference: NYAMUGA. Donation receipts will of course be issued.
You are welcome to contact us: baruis.board@gmail.com.