Cheshire Home for Children With Disabilities

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My first visit to a program was at Cheshire Homes in Livingston, Zambia. This program is designed to serve children with physical and intellectual disabilities. They provide special education to about 20 children (although it is difficult to understand the number because they do not keep accurate records) and physical therapy to about 60 children. These children are dropped off and only served during the day - there is an emphasis of keeping them connected with their families. The children attend school only M - W. On Thursday and Friday the workers (Sisters) follow the children to their homes to see how their families are doing. Cheshire Home also serves children out in their communities.

When they talk of services you have to think of it in a totally different way then you think of it in the U.S or at Arc GTC, Opportunity Partners, Fraser and St. David's Child Development and Family Services. My impression is that services usually means feeding programs (giving these children food to eat) and physical therapy and some very basic education. One of these photos illustrates what the therapy room looks like. Supplies are seriously lacking. They have a new building and are going to have two trained special education teachers assigned from the "Zambian Ministry of Education" which means these two teachers will receive a minimal salary for teaching (most special education teachers are untrained and volunteers). The new building will have two rooms for special education. Sustainability is an issue for all of these programs. This program raises chickens and has a guest house that they are trying to rent out to obtain resource to provide their services.

The more I see and the more I learn the more I think that empowering some Zambians who are enthusiastic and committed to helping people with disabilities to learn and develop is a very worthy and much needed effort. I also wish that every CEO who has ever complained about not having enough money (I mean this in the best of ways) and every Direct Support Professional who works with people with disabilities and has African immigrants as co-workers could see and experience the little that I have so far. More to come later - Amy