General Report

Rwamwanja settlement is a home to 76,844 (76,205 refugees and 639 asylum seekers. Out of the 76,833 from 18,395 households, 63,070 representing 82% are women are children, 39,684 (52%) are women, 12,708 (17%) are youth and 1,876 (02%) are elderly. Rwamwanja has 5,120 (3,201 female and 1919 male) Person with Special Needs (PSN).

previous field observations and community surveys and information gathered from our Partners like COHERE, who have been working with children with disabilities, have revealed that most children with disabilities in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, are deprived their right to education and most are also victims of Gender based violence (GBV) and negligence by their own family members and the society. They tend to be segregated against and aren’t given chance to participate in social activities with other children. They lack access to inclusive and quality education, inclusive learning materials, assistive devices, quality psychological and emotional care and society is largely negative and biased against these children. This largely due to the inadequate knowledge about these disabilities, inadequate all-inclusive schools, special needs teachers in schools, ignorance of parents and the community at large about these child disabilities and impairments. Most refugee parents and surrounding host communities have limited resources to afford learning materials and assistive devices to empower these children. This program will seek to fill all these gaps with the overall objective of empowering the children with disabilities so that they can access quality education and get accepted at home and community at large, thus allowing them to realize their future full potentials

From February 14 to 23, 2022. TOMORROW VIJANA in collaboration with COHERE  carried out an effective physical assessment field trip of identified children living with disabilities in Rwamwanja Settlement, these children were identified by TOMORROW VIJANA outreach workers, the purpose of this field visit was to assess the identified children to know the type of disability of these identified children, with the support of COHERE  specialist and the expertise of the team of therapists, TOMORROW VIJANA team with Specialists were able to assess 185 children, of the 185 children assessed 117 children were confirmed living with disabilities,50 referrals were given to parents for medical assistance and other 23 were not confirmed with disabilities but health condition and old cases assessed in the first cohort. All parents with confirmed children with disability was interviewed with caregiver questionnaire. During this field visit, different villages were reached to conduct the assessment, following are the village reached out during the assessment: Basecamp, Biguli,Buguta Kaberebere,Kaihora,Kikurura,Kyempango,Mahani,Nkoma and Ntenungi. widely the project progressed well and has already covered the target number despite the new cases turning up from the new relocated refugee, as the identification process is no longer taking place, these new cases are being referred to COHERE Field specialist working in conjunction with the Medical Team International for further assistance

During the implementation of children with disabilities empowerment program we learnt:

INCLUSIVITY: Emphasizes the importance of creating an environment in which all children, regardless of their abilities, feel welcomed and valued.

JOY OF LEARNING: Despite the challenges, the joy and fulfillment of watching children learn grow and have fun are powerful words.

RESILIENCE: Children and educators learn resilience in the face of challenges and setbacks, finding ways to overcome them together.

CELEBRATE PROGRESS: Small accomplishments help build confidence and motivation in children with disabilities.

PATIENCE: A lot of patience is required because it takes more time for children with disabilities to grow up and learn new things or participate in activities.

EMPATHY: Working closely with children with disabilities promotes empathy and understanding of their unique challenges and perspectives.

COMMUNICATION: Effective communication skills are essential to understanding and meeting the needs and preferences of each child.

COLLABORATION: Collaborating with other educators’ therapists and caregivers helps develop strategies to support children with disabilities.

ADAPTABILITY: We learned how to adapt activities and materials to meet the diverse needs of children with disabilities. They teach flexibility and creativity.