Kyaninga Inclusive Model School (KIMS) is a unique school offering education for children with complex needs and disabilities. At our school, located in Western Uganda, you can experience a joyful place where children with and without disabilities learn together, in the knowledge that inclusion widens horizons, promotes understanding and develops empathy in all children.
When everyone is included, everyone wins. (Jesse Jackson)
The joyous faces of KIMS children, often hide heart-breaking stories of hopelessness, shame and neglect. Joseph has Downs Syndrome and was abandoned by his parents when he was born, as they were unable to cope with the shame and stigma associated with disability. When he was taken to school, the teachers said he was unteachable. Faced with rejection and a lack of parental love, Joseph was left to sit day after day, in the dirt outside his house, with little stimulation or engagement with the world around him.
When Joseph, arrived at KIMS in October 2020, he was a silent, sullen and introverted boy, devoid of emotion. The nurturing environment of the schools Special Support Centre has allowed Joseph to grow, and he is a very different child today. He is learning to count, to read and write and make friends and is beginning to realise his potential as a learner and a person. Joseph is just one of many children - with your support KIMS could educate more children like Joseph
KIMS was set up in 2020 to address the alarming reality that only 9% of Ugandan school-age Children with Disabilities (CWDs) attend primary school. The principal reasons for this are:
a lack of physical accessibility to schools
a lack of training on the part of the teachers and those responsible for training teachers
negative attitudes held by headteachers, teachers and community leaders towards CWDs.
If we are to achieve a more equitable and inclusive world, in which children like Joseph can access a meaningful education, we need to stop talking empty rhetoric and start by putting into the practice the idealism that unites us. At KIMS we model the changes schools can bring about to become truly inclusive, despite the challenges such as a lack of resources and overcrowded classrooms prevalent within the overwhelmed Ugandan education system. KIMS is living proof how it can be done.
With your help, we can accept more children like Joseph at KIMS. Such children need and deserve high staffing ratios and appropriate equipment, and for this we need funding.
A girl was walking along a beach, there were thousands of stranded starfish, when she came to each starfish, she picked it up and placed it back into the sea. A man observed the girl and said, "You can't begin to make a difference ". The little girl replied as she placed a starfish in the sea "Well, I've made a difference to that one!"
You could start by making a difference to just one child.
Our request to you is simple, just give what you can to help. You can choose from these options:
Sponsor a child at $55 per month
Sponsor a child's essential food & nutrition in school at $30 per month
Sponsor a child's stationery and specialised equipment at $20 per term
Simply leave a donation which you can afford.
In return you will receive regular updates and photos about your child's progress in school.
Every penny of your money will go directly to bringing hope to a child, such as Joseph, currently being denied the chance to learn which they undeniably deserve.
Target: Number of children with disability currently waiting to join KIMS: 38
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