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allAfrica.com: Rwanda: Deaf And Mute Children Are Not Stupid Kids (Page 1 of 1)
When Sister Angela Casciaro visited Rwanda in 1987, she paid special attention to the situation of the deaf and speech impaired. She found it was not good. Back in Italy, she started working on a program to set up a school for the deaf-mute in the country. This became reality, when the Institute F. Smaldone opened its doors in Nyamirambo in 1992.
Neither the special interest of Sister Casciaro, nor the name of the school, were a coincidence. Casciaro was a member of the order of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, which was created by Saint Filippo Smaldone in 1885 in Italy exactly to help him in his pioneering work with the deaf-mute.
During his life from 1848 to 1923, Smaldone set up schools for the deaf and dumb in Naples, Lecce, Rome and Bari, all in Italy. He later extended his work to blind children, orphans and other disadvantaged children.
The school bearing his name in Kigali, which is a fitting homage to his life's work, started out with 50 children, both in kindergarten and primary. Today, it accommodates 150 pupils, both day-school and boarders. Most of the latter come from distant regions like Kibuye, Ruhengeri, Gisenyi or Rwamagana.
"They don't pay school fees," says director Antonia Gadaleta, "they just contribute something to run the school programme-Frw 20,000 for the day students and Frw 30,000 for boarders."
Students who pass primary level have the choice of going to a special school in Gatagara in Butare, or to join Gatenga professional school in Kicukiro where they get skills in different disciplines such as arts and crafts or carpentry. Moreover, the speech impaired children are mixed with able children at Gatenga.
Some of the students even do some small work at school, such as four girls doing odd jobs and one pupil acting as sports teacher.
Adapted sign language
However, educating the speech impaired is still a huge challenge. One of the biggest problems, says director Gadaleta, is that there exists no adapted syllabus.
"In Butare, which was the first special school for such students, you find that the sign language they use is borrowed from abroad, for example from Uganda and other parts of the world. But the pupils need their own sign languages, adapted to the culture and things done in the country-we have different cultures, so things vary.
"If you taught a pupil of Rwanda the sign language for a king from Uganda, for instance, these are kings whose dressing code varies from the kings here; so the child may grow up with a false understanding, which will be difficult to correct," Antonia Gadaleta explains.
In order to remedy this, she has approached the ministry of education and submitted a proposal to write a sign language book that could then be used in schools.
"The ministry gave me the go-ahead, and even some subsidies," the director says, adding that she has already finished the first part, with the second one expected to be finished in 2009. Afterwards, she intends to present the book to experts from the region and the rest of the world to help finalize it.
At the same time, Gadaleta also wants to tackle the problem of interpreters capable of using sign language.
"We are planning to begin teaching people very soon, and once the book has been approved, they will even be better able to communicate with the children, so that they can go to higher levels of education," the director says.
Discrimination
On the level of the students too, a lot remains to be done. A huge problem, according to Antonia Gadaleta, is that of discrimination, mainly due to the difficulties of communicating with the children.
"They get less parental care than other children, most often as a result of lack of communication," the director explains. "When these pupils are here with us life seems to be good for them because we understand and can communicate with them, but when they leave for home things change.
"Regularly they are abused and intimidated on their way home, which is very discouraging. Some are then so disheartened that they are even inclined to go and sit by the roadside to beg, so we always send one of our staff to go and visit their homes to see how they are doing," Gadaleta says.
Sister Bernadette Mukankusi, who is one of those responsible for visiting the pupils, says that she doesn't only go to their homes, but they also invite the parents to the school to explain them how they can better deal with their children.
"Most of these parents are poor, so on many occasions they ignore their children which forces many kids to go begging, and sometimes they even end up as thieves," Mukankusi explains. "Responsibility begins at home. If these parents don't love their children, then what do you expect from the society?"
When Sister Angela Casciaro visited Rwanda in 1987, she paid special attention to the situation of the deaf and speech impaired. She found it was not good. Back in Italy, she started working on a program to set up a school for the deaf-mute in the country. This became reality, when the Institute F. Smaldone opened its doors in Nyamirambo in 1992.
Neither the special interest of Sister Casciaro, nor the name of the school, were a coincidence. Casciaro was a member of the order of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, which was created by Saint Filippo Smaldone in 1885 in Italy exactly to help him in his pioneering work with the deaf-mute.
During his life from 1848 to 1923, Smaldone set up schools for the deaf and dumb in Naples, Lecce, Rome and Bari, all in Italy. He later extended his work to blind children, orphans and other disadvantaged children.
The school bearing his name in Kigali, which is a fitting homage to his life's work, started out with 50 children, both in kindergarten and primary. Today, it accommodates 150 pupils, both day-school and boarders. Most of the latter come from distant regions like Kibuye, Ruhengeri, Gisenyi or Rwamagana.
"They don't pay school fees," says director Antonia Gadaleta, "they just contribute something to run the school programme-Frw 20,000 for the day students and Frw 30,000 for boarders."
Students who pass primary level have the choice of going to a special school in Gatagara in Butare, or to join Gatenga professional school in Kicukiro where they get skills in different disciplines such as arts and crafts or carpentry. Moreover, the speech impaired children are mixed with able children at Gatenga.
Some of the students even do some small work at school, such as four girls doing odd jobs and one pupil acting as sports teacher.
Adapted sign language
However, educating the speech impaired is still a huge challenge. One of the biggest problems, says director Gadaleta, is that there exists no adapted syllabus.
"In Butare, which was the first special school for such students, you find that the sign language they use is borrowed from abroad, for example from Uganda and other parts of the world. But the pupils need their own sign languages, adapted to the culture and things done in the country-we have different cultures, so things vary.
"If you taught a pupil of Rwanda the sign language for a king from Uganda, for instance, these are kings whose dressing code varies from the kings here; so the child may grow up with a false understanding, which will be difficult to correct," Antonia Gadaleta explains.
In order to remedy this, she has approached the ministry of education and submitted a proposal to write a sign language book that could then be used in schools.
"The ministry gave me the go-ahead, and even some subsidies," the director says, adding that she has already finished the first part, with the second one expected to be finished in 2009. Afterwards, she intends to present the book to experts from the region and the rest of the world to help finalize it.
At the same time, Gadaleta also wants to tackle the problem of interpreters capable of using sign language.
"We are planning to begin teaching people very soon, and once the book has been approved, they will even be better able to communicate with the children, so that they can go to higher levels of education," the director says.
Discrimination
On the level of the students too, a lot remains to be done. A huge problem, according to Antonia Gadaleta, is that of discrimination, mainly due to the difficulties of communicating with the children.
"They get less parental care than other children, most often as a result of lack of communication," the director explains. "When these pupils are here with us life seems to be good for them because we understand and can communicate with them, but when they leave for home things change.
"Regularly they are abused and intimidated on their way home, which is very discouraging. Some are then so disheartened that they are even inclined to go and sit by the roadside to beg, so we always send one of our staff to go and visit their homes to see how they are doing," Gadaleta says.
Sister Bernadette Mukankusi, who is one of those responsible for visiting the pupils, says that she doesn't only go to their homes, but they also invite the parents to the school to explain them how they can better deal with their children.
"Most of these parents are poor, so on many occasions they ignore their children which forces many kids to go begging, and sometimes they even end up as thieves," Mukankusi explains. "Responsibility begins at home. If these parents don't love their children, then what do you expect from the society?"