This is the only play area at the Centre, for 130 children. Not particularly suitable!
THE FUTURE
One of the classrooms with not much space!
We have grown in numbers over the three years since we opened as a Centre for Deaf Children in the Nyabihu District and our children are well integrated into the local schools, busy with various activities and happy. We started with 31 children, and this last term - February 2016, we now have 130 children at the Centre. However, as you can also see from the photographs, the rented accommodation at the Centre is poor, cramped and unsuitable.
We have managed to buy, piece by piece, some land about 2 kilometres from the present site. It is big enough to build a New Centre. Our dream is to be able to find sufficient funds to start to build a place that will give our children dignity and hope. A beautiful home for our beautiful children in the beautiful land that is Rwanda.
We do not need to build the Centre in one go! We can start with a few buildings, and then add more as funds come in. The first building project would be the external wall, to give security to the site. Then we could build two residential blocks, one for the boys and one for the girls, with toilets and showers for each. The kitchen, refectory, offices, and vocational work rooms can come later. We would also have a suitable space for volleyball and relaxation, with grass, trees and flowers.
If you would like to donate to this ambitious project, please contact us. Do not think that a small amount will not make any difference. The small amounts people have donated have added up to enough money for a third of the whole project!
We have managed to buy, piece by piece, some land about 2 kilometres from the present site. It is big enough to build a New Centre. Our dream is to be able to find sufficient funds to start to build a place that will give our children dignity and hope. A beautiful home for our beautiful children in the beautiful land that is Rwanda.
We do not need to build the Centre in one go! We can start with a few buildings, and then add more as funds come in. The first building project would be the external wall, to give security to the site. Then we could build two residential blocks, one for the boys and one for the girls, with toilets and showers for each. The kitchen, refectory, offices, and vocational work rooms can come later. We would also have a suitable space for volleyball and relaxation, with grass, trees and flowers.
If you would like to donate to this ambitious project, please contact us. Do not think that a small amount will not make any difference. The small amounts people have donated have added up to enough money for a third of the whole project!
If you are an English tax payer, you might like to visit our Virgin Giving page. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/NNS
This is an ambitious project, but we know it is possible and if you don't have ambition, you will never achieve anything!
Our English architect with a Rwandan building contractor and the local representative of C4C talking over the initial plans.
This is an ambitious project, but we know it is possible and if you don't have ambition, you will never achieve anything!
Our English architect with a Rwandan building contractor and the local representative of C4C talking over the initial plans.
or you could EMAIL US AND WE WILL SEND INFORMATION ABOUT other ways YOU CAN DONATE
Email Louis Ngabonziza for bank details: louis.ngabo@gmail.com
Starting THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR
EVERY LITTLE HELPS...
uuWe have recently conducted an assessment of the number of deaf people in the sectors near our center, so that we have some idea of the number and needs of the deaf people in the neighboring area. We were surprised by numbers. We found 80 deaf people in just 5 sectors, and our district has 12 sectors altogether. We also found that 30 of these are aged between 5 and 12 years and they could start studying at our Centre in the P1 class. However, the main problem in trying to meet this need to study is that at the Center we do not have the space for 30 more people. Also, these children come from extremely poor families who can not afford to pay any school fees so they really are in need in every aspect of their lives. They face social Discrimination (educational, medical care, opportunities, social ....) There is still a prevalent mindset and myth here, that a deaf person is useless. From our assessment, we also found around 50 deaf adults aged between 18 and 40 years old. We are not able to offer these people any formal education, but access to vocational training would enable them to learn a trade and improve their standard of living as well as their place in the society. We are exploring the possibility of helping them to set up a cooperative. But there is a long way to go before we can do that as we need financial as well as a clear plan of which vocations to develop, and where this is to be done.
This boy is 6 years old. He needs to be at school. When at home he is hidden by his parents who are extremely poor and unable to cover his school fees at a Deaf Center. They can not take him to the local school where education is free because he is seen by others (neighbours) as a shame and a curse on their family.
This local man is Deaf and even though he is an adult he has no skill or training that can help him improve his quality of life. He is now coming to the Centre daily and learning some woodcarpenty skills.