Will you help children like Nakiru on the path to an education?
For children with disabilities like Nakiru, 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.
Nakiru* is in constant pain
At just ten years old, Nakiru lives with pain every day. After meningitis left her legs weakened and misshapen, even standing can be unbearable. While other children run and play, Nakiru can only watch from the sidelines.
The journey to school is long and exhausting – far too difficult for her to manage. So each morning, as other children set off to learn, Nakiru gets left behind. Without support, her chances of getting an education felt out of reach.
But things can change.
With support from VSO, Nakiru now has a place at a rescue centre connected to her school. Instead of facing an impossible journey each day, she has somewhere safe to stay, learn and belong.
Nakiru is no longer left alone at home. She is learning to read and write. She is building her confidence and independence. She is beginning to imagine a brighter future.
The rescue centres are life-changing. They give children like Nakiru the chance every child deserves and hope for what comes next.
Real change happens when people like you act. Will you help another child like Nakiru go to school?
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 Nakiru face a lifetime of isolation and poverty.
Until no one stands alone
VSO is working with dedicated volunteers to get children like Nakiru 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 Nakiru 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.
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 Nakiru finally feel they belong. Education is the key to everything. It transforms lives, families and communities. This is Nakiru’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 Nakiru.
Donate now
*Pseudonym used to protect identity
Footnotes
- UNICEF
- Global Parternship for Education