“I think there are many disabled people hidden inside the houses, they [families/communities] don’t want them to be seen, I would like to beg them, those children need education, some have good talents, some are brilliants.”

Elias had an accident when he was 31 years old, reporting permanent physical damage to one leg. Before that, he had a common life: he attended the public school, he worked, he contributed to his family… Throughout his life he had never experienced disabilities or had relationships of any kind with a disabled person. When his life changed, he began to suffer discrimination at workplace: people, without knowing him personally, did not believe he could be mentally fit, but everyone changed his minds after seeing his products.
Today he is one of the founders of a local group of people with disabilities that is struggling to grow; among the most important challenges, in his opinion, there is the fact that community often isolates people with disabilities.

“Since when did you start considering yourself as everyone else?”
“About 20 years ago, I decided to be satisfied like this, relying on hope, we don’t have alternatives, if something is in your body, then it’s yours.”

Charles is a charming 48-year-old man, a reference for his community since he has always been politically active. He is the secretary of a local self-help group made up of people with disabilities, which in 2020 had access to a governmental subsidized loan to conduct small businesses.
He had polio when he was a child, suffering severe physical damage; at the age of 16 he underwent an operation which unfortunately did not give the desired results. Thanks to the support of the Isimani village community, after the operation he re-enrolled in school to complete his cycle of studies.

“So in this situation you can lose hope, starting from the parents, my mom was telling me, “you’re going to school but you belong to home, here we will remain me and you.”

Prisca is a special teacher who has become a focal point for children with disabilities who attend her school, Kibaoni Primary School in the Iringa District Council, in Tanzania.
She was 4 when she fell ill with polio and she could no longer walk alone, except using her trusty cane. Since then, she had to fight so much with her family that was preventing her from going to school, thus she was often feeling lonely and isolated.
It was precisely by attending school that she then decided to become a teacher and, years later during the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, she realized she wanted to do more and chose to dedicate her life to help children with disabilities and their families.
In 2021 Prisca won the Focsiv Volunteers Award as Volunteers from the South, a prize normally dedicated to citizens of developing countries committed to the growth of their communities.

“When I started this job, the situation was even more complicated: there was much more discrimination for children with disabilities, even here at school. Things are improving: this means that change is possible”.

Ester started the school to become a teacher in 2007; in that context, she met a student suffering from blindness and this meeting helped her she making the decision of studying inclusive education to help children with disabilities to get a quality education. She still remembers her first student, a child with down syndrome who was not considered by anyone. She began to help him by simply offering him some tea.
Today Esther works in Tanangozi Primary School, teaching to students in great part affected by intellectual impairments. She set up a special class where she teaches children with the different learning difficulties, and she sometimes managed to get some of her students into regular classrooms, where they can learn from other kids and implement their social skills. In her opinion, the biggest challenge today is the inability of the school to be completely open to the community and to build a strong bond with the parents of these children, to make sure they are cared for with love both at home, at school and in the community in general.

“I experienced the discrimination on my skin, so I would like to help ensuring that this doesn’t happen to others in the future”.

IBO Italia met Jasiri during a teacher training on inclusive education. He was one of the attendees, very enthusiastic and active, always ready to ask questions. For him, inclusive education is a personal challenge: he has lived with a physical disability since he was very young, but he has never been discouraged.
Few months after participating to the training, Jasiri voluntarily asked us to be included into the sensitization activities that IBO carries out in the rural areas of the district because he personally experienced that in the more peripheral areas are hidden the greater challenges. Since then, he has often accompanied us to the villages for raising awareness to the parents of children with disabilities, giving them hope about the future of their children.