Meet 62-year-old Silas Tsuma and his son 27-year-old Stephen who is the first born among three brothers. Stephen was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at four years of age following complications from a Malaria infection that affected his brain, subsequently affecting his development. Stephen is a beneficiary of the Inclusive Communities Project funded by Irish Aid and being implemented by Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya in partnership with CBM Global Kenya, that among others, seeks to promote inclusive education particularly for children with various forms of disabilities including psychosocial, intellectual and cognitive. Stephen is among 13 children from Kilifi County who have received disability aids meant to enhance their access to education. Silas shares their story below:  

Stephen was just okay at birth and had even started going to nursery school before falling ill. Since then, we have spent a lot of time in and out of a number of private and public hospitals in Mombasa and Kilifi County trying to find a medical solution to the complications arising from his illness, but we have been unsuccessful. 

His condition kept worsening as the days went by. Initially he wasn’t physically disabled. He could comfortably walk. Unfortunately, he kept getting worse and lost mobility. Now, he needs support to walk.

School has greatly benefited him

I believe being in school has been very beneficial to Stephen. In as much as he is a bit slow in comprehension and speech, and struggles with coordination, he fully understands when engaged in a slow pace that he is comfortable with. He can even respond back to you provided you give him adequate time to do so. His primary challenge is writing. You can even notice that he is happier when he is with interacting with fellow pupils.

At home, his brothers help with tasks like taking a bath and dressing up. He can comfortably feed himself though slowly. He doesn’t need to be rushed.

As the Chairman of the Board of Management at Kizurini Special School, I lead a lot of public awareness activities in my community encouraging parents to enroll their children with disabilities to this school as opposed to keeping them hidden in their homes.

It is expensive catering to the needs of a child with a permanent disability 

I am retired from formal employment and currently don’t have a permanent source of income beside my savings and pension. I was therefore happy when my son received a pair of school uniforms, shoes, a school bag and standing aid courtesy of this program.

With the standing aid, Stephen can stand on his own and even move around without needing support. The school uniform helps him truly feel like a part of the school community and this makes him happy being in the school. 

Even though I was employed, it was challenging for me to cater for such costs considering that my son had other pressing needs such as medical costs, and I had two other sons who I was educating. Now, I can focus on his other needs, particularly medication which he is constantly on.

In my community, parents have a tendency to prioritize the needs of their children who don’t have any form of disability over the needs of those with disabilities. Some even associate disability with curses. However, once we sensitise them on the medical causes of disabilities, these negative misconceptions change, and the parents start bringing their children to school to get an education. 

Whereas we appreciate this program, I would like to highlight the fact that these children have plenty of needs which if addressed, will help them comfortably receive an education. For instance, in addition to uniforms and assistive devices, these children can benefit a lot from physical therapy and even speech therapy if this is to be provided within the school. Currently, these are only available in limited health facilities which are often inaccessible because of the high costs to the parents.

As a community, we will continue to sensitize more parents on the value of ensuring that their children with disabilities receive an education.