Uganda

"What I am most proud of is how we are trying to tackle the real challenges faced by people with disabilities in local communities" Fred Semakula, Motivation Project Manager, Uganda

Supporting disabled children and their families

In a country where disability still carries huge stigma, children like Matthew face an uncertain future. Their parents must find the strength to reject pressure to abandon their disabled children and fight for their inclusion.

But without support, training and the right wheelchairs, many parents struggle to meet their children’s basic needs, leaving them vulnerable to malnutrition, breathing difficulties, spinal deformities and pressure ulcers.

Taking care of a disabled child takes time – time when most parents would otherwise be trying to earn a living. As a result, many of these families live in extreme poverty.

Our latest work

Our latest project, made possible by our When I Grow Up appeal and DfID UK Aid Match funding, got underway in December. This holistic two year project will allow us to empower disabled children and their families across the Kampala and Kasese regions of the country by providing life changing training and support.

As we exceeded our original fundraising target, we were able to expand a number of the project's activities to reach even more disabled children and strengthen their support networks. 

 

 

Parent Carer training

Our Parent Carer training courses provide an opportunity for families to help understand the true causes of their child’s disability, empowering them to speak up and advocate for their basic human rights. Not only is Motivation changing attitudes, but teaching simple techniques that can have a huge impact on a child’s development – such as how to feed safely, and how to encourage communication and play.

During the course of this project, we will provide this training to 400 parents, carers and children. Furthermore, these same families will also be able to learn income-generating activities such as soap making and pig rearing, to help provide a route out of poverty.

 

Motivation Peer Training

We are now able to run an additional peer training course for children provided by wheelchair users for wheelchair users to learn and put in to practice simple lifesaving techniques. As well as health advice, our experienced trainers also give people information about their rights as a disabled person and how to stand up for them - for some it is a revelation to hear that they are entitled to rights at all.

Strengthened wheelchair provision

We’re also fitting children with appropriate wheelchairs helping them to access education. Over the next two years, Motivation’s partners will  prescribe 180 specially fitted supportive wheelchairs for children with mobility disabilities, providing a greater level of independence and an improved quality of life.

Our increased budget now also allows us to provide additional technical and clinical support to our partner wheelchair services. We will focus on expanding their community reach and will support the building of in-country experts ensuring disabled children are fitted with the right wheelchair in the right way.

Raising awareness

Motivation will also work with local Disabled People’s Organisations (DPO's) to develop groups of peer mentors -  disabled people supporting disabled people - to carry out home and hospital visits to adult and children wheelchair users.

See how our training for parents in Uganda is changing attitudes:

Images by M Grayson