Sensory Room for Light in Africa
For 2010, our Target is to build a sensory room for Light in Africa.
Light in Africa has a number of children with learning disabilities from moderate to severe. A sensory / physiotherapy room will help the children to develop in all areas of development. Our aim is to raise funds to provide the equipment and materials needed as well as financially supporting the salary of a fully trained Tanzanian Occupational therapist to work with the children on a daily basis.
Volunteers form the Western World in the field of Pccupational / Physio / Speech Therapy able to assist and help the staff team working with the children would be great and very much appreciated. For any information about volunteering click here.
The children will have individual plans made to meet their needs to encourage and promote independence as much as possible.
Special needs care and education is very limited in Tanzania, so we hope to give the children in the care of LIA a service that only a very small number of children are privileged to receive. The children are desperate to go to school with the other children but due to lack of qualified teachers in the disability field and resources in the schools there are very few places available.
We will use a combination of natural materials from Tanzania to make sensory equipment, as well as ideas and electronic equipment form the Western World to enhance all areas of child development.
We anticipate the costing of this sensory room to be in the region of £8,000 to £10,000 and so we are actively fundraising to ahcieve this amount as quickly as possible.
Here are some children who will benefit from a sensory room based in LIA‘s Tudor Village:
Beatrice
Beatrice is developmentally delayed and is a happy child. She at the age of 5 years still remains very small and underweight. She has had many tests to determine why she hasn’t gained weight with no answers given. Beatrice's Mother visits her occasionally but due to the stigma attached to giving birth to a child with a disability Beatrice was thrown out of the marital family and had nowhere to go. Her mum knew of the work of LIA through out reach programs in to her village. Without the care of LIA and the dedicated nursery staff team who take care of Beattie on a daily basis her story could have been very different. Beattie would benefit form daily physiotherapy and individual stimulation in a playful manner.
Elisanna
Elisanna is one of LIA’s success stories. Elisianna arrived on the doors of LIA 7 years ago just a little girl who laid in the foetal position sucking her thumb. She is an abandoned child and has Cerebral Palsy, she couldn’t walk, wouldn’t sit up or feed herself. Elisanna through not only the care of LIA but through her sheer determination and will power is now as independent as any of the girls her age, she is able to walk with her frame and also unaided for short distances, she is independent in toileting, washing and feeding herself, she can speak both Kiswahili and English and is desperate to go to school with her friends. Elisianna is an inspiration to us all and one of the reasons for wanting to provide a learning area for her to develop in.
Joseph
Joseph is a downs syndrome baby and needs physio therapy every day to get him walking and sitting unaided , he needs a lot of attention and stimulation to help him become independant. The sensory / physio room is paramount to Josephs well being and development.
Any offers of help in donations, organising fund raising events or volunteering would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks for your support.
We’ve teamed up with JustGiving, the UK’s leading online fundraising website, so you can donate and raise funds for us online. JustGiving reclaims Gift Aid automatically and pays donations to us directly at the end of every week. The site is 100% secure.
