Case studies
UWAVIKA (Umoja Wa Wazazi Wenye Watoto Viwizi Kanda Ya Kaskazini)
Our local partner in Tanzania is UWAVIKA (Umoja Wa Wazazi Wenye Watoto Viwizi Kanda Ya Kaskazini), an association of parents of deaf children in a growing number of regions in Tanzania which is working towards being truly national.
It grew from a parents group associated with a large boarding school in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania which originally concentrated on the welfare of pupils already in that school. The parents decided to widen both aims and membership and in 1994 they re-established as a registered wider organisation, which has a membership that is open to any parent, relative, carer of a deaf child, to professionals and others associated with the education of deaf children upon payment of a small membership fee. Membership is at present over 100 and members are widely scattered, meeting at regular intervals to discuss a wide variety of issues and to organise the activities and operation of the organisation. One national meeting has been convened.
The association is unusual in that the parents have extended their interests outside their own children to work on behalf of the very large numbers of deaf children not receiving any education either because they are unknown, or because of the very long waiting lists that every school in Tanzania has. There was also a wish to help other parents with information and appropriate advice. In the area of campaigning for more education, UWAVIKA has been outstandingly successful.
There is a long and proud history of deaf education in Tanzania, and there are some 9 deaf schools in different parts of the country. Because of numbers and geography, these schools cannot hope to help most of the deaf children there, and as a result there are a growing number of units for them attached to ordinary schools. However, most children, if they get to school at all, only complete primary education, as the number of places in secondary schools and their cost are prohibitive for many families. For non-academic deaf children needing vocational training if they are to stand any hope of becoming productive economically, there is nothing at all, and as a result they are unable to develop their talents and are largely out of the job market.
By applying constant pressure on authorities, both national and local, UWAVIKA has seen the establishment of 10 units attached to schools for hearing pupils and varying in size. These units are in cities and municipalities and are government managed. Government is responsible for the accommodation needs of the pupils, the staffing provision and parents are responsible for clothing and feeding their children. UWAVIKA also provides information to and training for parents and also offers sign-language training to carers and members of the community who may come into contact with deaf children or adults.
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