Pamodzi Project: Empowering Disabled Children in Malawi with Inclusive Education
Rights of children to education, especially those with disabilities, are codified in Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), writes Sumeya Issa
Malawi-The rights of children to education, especially those with disabilities, are codified in Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), writes Sumeya Issa.
Sustainable Development Goal number 4, on the other hand, aims at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.
However, even in the face of diverse policies towards inclusive education, children with disabilities in Malawi continue to face tremendous challenges as well as limitations resulting from their conditions.
For many civil society organizations, non-governmental institutions, and other relevant stakeholders, the worry is that there is very little progress towards inclusion in the country as children with disabilities continue to live in environments that are not conducive to their conditions and are often neglected, leading to high levels of poverty.
Fount for Nations, through the Pamodzi Inclusive Education in South East Africa (PIESEA) project, is one organization that is driving efforts towards inclusion in the country.
Fount for Nation, through community engagements, training programs, and advocacy, is helping transform the lives of children with disabilities in rural communities through a project called Pamodzi Inclusive Education.
Emily Chomo, 12, is a young girl with a disability who has had to endure tragic experiences and encounters because of her condition. Chomo is the youngest of three children in her family.
Her family lives in Kaphuta village in Mzimba district, in the north of Malawi. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, a physical and intellectual disability, that has resulted in difficulties in balance and muscle coordination.
When she reached school-going age in 2016, Emily was enrolled at Kaphuta Primary School and was carried to and from school. At Kaphuta, Emily encountered a one-size-fits-all education curriculum where the unique needs of children with disabilities were not met.
The lack of skilled personnel and resources made schooling difficult for her.
Masautso Kause, the headteacher of Kaphuta Primary School, admitted that it was challenging to meet the needs of children with disabilities.
"We enrolled her here, but we had no resource room or assistive devices for such learners," Kause explains.
Emily's condition also took a toll on her parents' marriage. They separated three years after she started school.
Her father felt burdened by her disability. Her mother and siblings continued sharing the responsibility of carrying her to school and back, but that too was taking a toll on everyone, as they balanced this responsibility with other chores and running small businesses, like selling onions at the local market.
In 2019, after three years of schooling, Emily eventually dropped out because no one was available to carry her to school. As a result, Emily was at home, isolated from her peers and the learning she enjoyed.
Since there was no one to take her to school, Emily was locked inside the house as her mother and siblings went to the market to sell their wares.
Her mother later suffered a mental illness that community members said was due to the depression associated with the hardships of feeding and caring for her family. After falling ill, she was incapacitated and could no longer provide for her family
In September 2022, Fount for Nations, through the Pamodzi Inclusive Education in South East Africa (PIESEA) project, trained community members in Kaphuta on human rights, child protection, and advocacy for inclusive education.
The training engaged persons with disabilities, chiefs, mother groups, school management committees, the Parent Teachers Association, and the Child Protection Committees of the primary schools around the area, as well as Emily's school.
"We made sure all concerned individuals at the community level were included so that we could tackle all the needs of people with disabilities. We believe community-based solutions are key to inclusive education and sustainability," Connex Kafera, Fount for Nations' Advocacy and Communications Officer, explains.
Following the training, the community members developed a community action plan outlining the execution of their various roles to promote the right to education for differently abled children.
Through the intervention, Chikondi Majawa, a member of a mother's group in the community, met Emily's mother, where a life-changing resource was provided.
"As a group, we first lobbied for a wheelchair, which was provided by Malawi Against Physical Disability (MAP) and Mzimba District Social Welfare," Majawa explains.
The efforts by Fount for Nations under the Inclusive Education Project proved fruitful. Emily now goes to school. Her schoolmates push her in the wheelchair to school.
"As a family, we are extremely grateful for the assistance. Emily is now able to go to school in a wheelchair with the help of her friends. It has lessened our burden and hers as well. We are so very pleased with how responsive and supportive the community has become through NGO interventions," said the Chomo family.
However, even with this tremendous initial stride, children like Emily Chomo need a school with a resource room that provides customized material for cognitive development.
The Education Coordinator for Mzimba, Joana Kanyinji, laments the poor road conditions in the district and lack of bridges, which hinder mobility and are a cause of absenteeism for differently abled children.
"We are still lobbying for human resources and assistive devices for these learners with the hope that one day we will have a working system for children with disabilities," Kanyinji states.
Fount for Nations remains focused on improving the policy infrastructure and eradicating challenges associated with disability and inclusive education in rural Malawi. It continues to offer support, education, training, and advocacy.
Among other efforts, the organization also pushes for government policies and budgetary allocation to realize proper and comprehensive inclusive education.