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By Isabella Maua
Health is generally a very sensitive topic and part of human life; mental and physical well-being can never be underrated for day-to-day functioning.
Besides food, shelter, and clothing, among the present day’s basic human needs is education. Take an instance of an illiterate person with no clue about reading or writing in the current world; it could be terrible!
Imagine a person living with a disability, physically or intellectually, with no ability to read, write, or decode any impactful message that could add value to their life.
Many parents have neglected their special needs children, branding them as a curse or bad omen in the family and society.
This is no news to many superstitious African families, and no doubt many still view special needs children and even adults as the ‘black sheep’ even in the 21st century.
In Mt. Elgon Sub County in Bungoma County, one of the regions in Western Kenya occupied by minority tribes Sabaots and Teso as well as Luhyas, people living with intellectual challenges have had their fair share of stigma and oppression in the recent past.
With no schools or any kind of institution to cater for these children’s or even adults’ thirst for education, many were left to live lonely lives back in their homes, and some were even abandoned away from home.
To rewrite their life history and make them feel loved and appreciated inclusively in the community, Martin Wambete pushed for the creation of Kaptola FYM Special School, where intellectually challenged students were to be admitted and taught life skills to the best of their ability.
“This school started in 1997 as part of the mainstream Kaptola primary school, but with time we received more students than we could handle; in 2014, we had to apply for registration as an independent special school,” Wambete expounded.
That is when their journey as Kaptola FYM Special School began, from 15 to 65 students at present.
“We have so far changed the lives of many girls and boys who have got quality, tailored skills to be better people in society,” he said.
This, however, has come with many stumbling blocks, and as stated by Wambete, it has been a selfless journey of relentlessness and hope.
“As an institution, we had neither modern classes to host our students nor enough teachers to impart the much-sought knowledge to them,” he recalled with nostalgia.
It was then that they received funding for four classroom construction projects from the National Fund for the Disabled of Kenya, with the World Bank, through the Ministry of Education, adding one more classroom and looking into sanitation by tapping clean water and constructing modern toilets.
Like any other school, special schools have their own unique kinds of hurdles to jump.
“We have students with severe conditions due to other health complications like autism, diabetes, challenges with movement, and also a lack of ability to know directions from school and home,” Wambete revealed.
This, he says, has made them adapt to a home-based teaching system where teachers visit the students at least twice a week to follow up on how they are progressing with their lessons.
He highlighted: “The greatest of all the challenges we encounter here is the lack of a boarding facility. Our girls have survived gender-based violence, with some being defiled and, due to unavoidable circumstances, forced to be teenage mothers.”
He cited a case of two teenage girls aged 13 and 16 who were defiled not more than 5 kilometers away from school but could not get justice since they could not identify the perpetrator due to their mental state.
To add salt to the wound, the victims had to carry unwanted pregnancies to term because they could not (because of their state of mind) report the incident on time so as to get proper medical attention.
All said and done, it is not all gloom and doom at Kaptola Special School since the five teachers (currently employed by the Teachers Service Commission) have dedicated their time and energy to guiding their students to their talents.
“As a result of such passion and our strive for excellence, Celestine Sangula qualified to participate in the 2009 Summer Games in Tunisia and brought home a medal,” Wambete reported with unhidden pride in his smile.
They also have classes and workshops where students get to sew, knit, and make beaded products for sale in order to support the running of their practical lessons.
“This is where we encounter another challenge of inadequate assistive materials, for which we request the Kenya Institute of Special Education and any well-wishers to step in and assist us,” highlighted the school head.
He further added that, through the Ministry of Education, increasing capitation to the only special school within the region could play a big role in purchasing quality assistive materials for students.
Even as Kaptola FYM Special School, under the able guidance of Mr. Wambete, continues to sail through the muddy waters of challenges in the quest to raise the educational standards of the intellectually challenged, their hope lies with the government and other stakeholders.