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Problem
/ Project Background
Many of us delight in the five senses given to us,
smell, touch, taste, hear and sight, and we take such gifts
for advantage. However there are millions of people around
the world who suffer from deficiency in one or more of the
senses.
Suffering from impaired hearing has serious detrimental effects
on a child's education and makes it difficult for the child
to integrate with the rest of the society and is considered
an outcast. The child is also socially stigmatised and also
suffers further hardship by not being able to secure employment
and get married.
This not only leads to potential communication problems but
also means that the child is not able to integrate with the
rest of the society and is considered an outcast. The child
is also socially stigmatised and also suffers further hardship
by not being able to secure employment and get married.
A way of tackling this is through developing efficient local
institutions which not only utilise specialist means to teach
children but also educate the local community and influence
them to accept these children as part of the community.
It is estimated that there are approximately 250,000 deaf
or partially deaf children in Sudan due to congenital deformity
or infections such as cerebral spinal meningitis, mumps and
measles.
North Kordofan State is within a semi-desert area, which has
a population of approximately 1.4 million. It is a culturally
and ethnically homogenous area with most of the people involved
in agricultural based work. The state suffers from long periods
of drought resulting in a way of life that has become accustomed
to poverty, disease and water shortages.
The school targeted for this project is located in the Ashiwaihat
area of El Obeid a main market town of North Kordofan state.
In 1993/4, IR conducted a preparatory research, which identified
helping the disabled community, as a priority need.
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The Sudanese National Society for the Deaf
(SNSD) was identified as an organisation that needed complementary
resources to start an educational program as a result of which
a classroom was dedicated to this activity within IR Community
Training Centre (CTC) in El Obeid.
Due to the success of this program, the demand
increased and eventually the service was moved to a bigger
building now taking care of approximately 69 children and
adults. This school is the only institution of it's kind in
Western Sudan and serves an area of 6 states with a population
of 9.3 million.
The school with continuous expansion has required refurbishment,
enhancement of facilities and capacity building of the teachers,
which are issues, this project aims to address.
Project
Objectives
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Establish
quality specialist educational facilities for community
members suffering from impaired hearing
- Increase the capacity of the local NGOs to provide assistance
and facilities for hearing impaired
Project
Activities
- The project
activities include provision of specialist teaching for
children who suffer from impaired hearing.
- In addition to this the school will also teach the children
in the National Curriculum. Adult literacy classes using
sign language will be conducted and mothers will be recruited
into special classes allowing them to communicate effectively
with their children.
- Of serious concern is the stigma, which the society places
on children and adults with some form of disability. In
order to address this concern, the school will take responsibility
in raising awareness through campaigns aimed at community.
This will tackle the issue of hearing impairment within
the community so that people who have the disability are
not looked upon as being outcasts in society.
Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries consist of 140 hearing
impaired children and mothers
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