Nangiro sat on her wheelchair, outside, in a pink dress.

Will you help a child like Nangiro go to school and thrive?

For children with disabilities like Nangiro, isolation can last a lifetime. School should be a place of safety, belonging and opportunity – but too many are left behind.

Real change happens when people like you choose to act. VSO volunteers are breaking down barriers, helping children access education and the brighter future they deserve.

Nangiro sat on her wheelchair.
Spanora Media
Nangiro cannot walk. The journey to school was impossible.

Nangiro* had no one

Orphaned at the age of five, Nangiro had no one to care for her. No brothers or sisters to support her. 

Nangiro has a disability affecting her lower legs. She cannot walk, making the long journey to school impossible. While other children set off to class each morning, she stayed behind, watching them go. Nangiro had no one. Living in poverty and with a disability, Nangiro had no real way to go to school to learn to read or write. She began to believe she might never get the chance. 

Then, when she was 11, a teacher reached out and helped Nangiro go to school for the first time. 

Thanks to VSO, there is a rescue centre attached to the school. For Nangiro, who uses a wheelchair to get around, it would be a gruelling five-hour ride – an impossible journey. Now, children who cannot make the journey to school each day can have a place to stay and for others, it can be a place of safety. The rescue centres are vital.  

Real change happens when people like you act. Will you help another child like Nangiro go to school?

Donate now
 

Nangiro inside the classroom.
Spanora Media
Every day children are left alone and isolated. This can change.

Millions of children are unheard and unseen

In Uganda, it is estimated that there are over 2 million children with disabilities1. In Karamoja, a vast region of northeast Uganda, most children with disabilities are excluded from education – they are often seen as a burden or a source of shame. Many are kept at home, out of sight. Even when children with disabilities make it to school, they can face more barriers from inaccessible classrooms to inexperienced teachers.

Out of every ten children with disabilities, only one is in education in Uganda2. Without schooling, children like Nangiro face a lifetime of isolation and poverty. 

Nangiro doing classwork at her desk.
Spanora Media
Nangiro says, "Learning is good and education will open my future."

Until no one stands alone

VSO is working with dedicated volunteers to get children like Nangiro into school to ensure they have a good education, and a brighter future ahead. 

A shortage of teachers means class sizes are large and children with disabilities can get lost in the shadows. Teachers have not been trained to plan engaging, inclusive lessons which allow all children to participate. VSO volunteers are showing teachers on how to involve every child, fight stigma and adapt lessons to different abilities.  

Many children like Nangiro who miss out on years of education get left behind and forgotten. But VSO volunteers are training teachers to provide catch-up classes to give extra support. 

Nangiro in her wheelchair, smiling.
Spanora Media
Nangiro can now belong, learn and thrive.

How you can help

With your support, school can be more than a place just to learn. It can be a place where children like Nangiro finally feel they belong. Education is the key to everything. It transforms lives, families and communities. This is Nangiro’s beginning. But there are so many other children with disabilities who need your help to go to school.

Please help to keep changing lives today. You could spark lasting change for more children like Nangiro. 
Donate now

*Pseudonym used to protect identity

Footnotes
  1. UNICEF
  2. Global Parternship for Education