The Rotary Club of Sonde in Mukono Municipality on Monday came to the rescue of the pupils with disability at St. Charles Lwanga Primary School Bukeerere with goodies worth millions of money.
Headed by the President, Dr. Charles Olalo who is the director of curative services in the Ministry of Health Rotarians donated a number of items, cash and promised a number of things intended to improve the wellbeing of the school’s disabled wing.
The donated items included; rice, maize floor, sugar, mattresses with mackintosh, bar soap, pampers, blankets, mattresses, among others.
Dr. Olalo presented to the school administrators one million shillings in cash and gave in a pledge on behalf of his members to complete a building which had gotten stuck on the way due to lack of resources.
“Through the Ministry of Health’s malaria control program, we shall also donate 100 mosquito nets for these children to help their parents protect them from malaria,” he said.
Because the section is dominated by children suffering from cerebral palsy, Dr. Olalo promised to also give them a physiotherapist from Mukono General Hospital to be able to attend to the them at least once a week.
He however showed dismay saying that a big number of parents associate cerebral palsy to witchcraft yet it’s not true.
He said it results from a number of challenges including malaria during their infant stages.
Christine Kirungi, the Executive Director of the Umbrella Cerebral Palsy Network Association.
“When children get high fever and it’s not treated early enough, the temperatures increase resulting in convulsions which later damage their brain leading to cerebral palsy,” he said.
He warned parents of children with similar conditions who are still kept at home to avoid wasting their little money on witchcraft.
The administrators of St. Charles Lwanga Bukeerere Primary School reported that they are overwhelmed by the numbers of children under the disability section having been limited by the resources.
The school headteacher, Clementine Namakula said that though the school started way back in 1949, the idea of the section handling children with disability, mainly cerebral palsy came to pass in 2019.
Located at Bukeerere Cell in Goma Division, Mukono Municipality, the school has a total enrolment of 932 pupils, where 25 are under the disability section.
Namakula recalled that they started with only five children but the numbers have kept growing over the time.
She said that though in a school setting the learners have to report to school on a daily basis during the days of the week, but according to their capacity of the disability section, they cannot have the whole 25 children report to school on a daily basis.
Rotary Club of Sonde members caring to the children.
“Due to the limited space and workers to handle the children who are completely helpless and depend on helpers, we can only afford keeping five children at school on a daily basis,” she said.
The Executive Director of the Umbrella Cerebral Palsy Network Association, Christine Kirungi who is also a victim, said that after making an observation in the community, she realized that many parents were hiding these children at home as their fellows went to school.
Kirungi said that she wanted to start at least a home or school where these children would be kept or taken on a daily basis to also have the opportunity of attaining education and other social services.
“Unfortunately, I lacked land and financial muscle to start one yet I also considered an inclusive school as the best option. I wrote to different schools to consider starting a section handling the disabled children but out of the many, only St. Charles Lwanga Bukeerere considered my proposal,” she said.
Kirungi added that because they have no transport facilities to pick these children up in the morning and take them back in the evening, their parents are supposed to deliver them.
She said that because most of the parents abandon these children either to mothers or grandparents, some of them from long distances cannot access the school due to lack of transport.
“If we had transport or accommodation facilities to retain the children at school, the numbers would have grown to over 50 and beyond. We have hope that we can either get funders or the government to support us in growing the facility’s capacity,” she said.
The facility is challenged by lack of health workers to treat these children who regularly fall sick.
Kirungi said that they also need rehabilitation therapists whom they are currently just hiring and they are so expensive. She said that having one on a full time basis would be a better option.
Namakula, the headteacher said that they are also challenged by the lack of enough water yet given the nature of these children, they need a lot of water that involves washing and cleaning them regularly.
She said they are planning to have a permanent water source if they happen to get the resources.
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