After some years of planning, things are now moving forward apace. Following 2 visits to Uganda last year, we have appointed Paul Ssenteza as Development Manager for SignHealth Uganda. Paul previously worked for the Uganda Society for Disabled Children and took up his post with SignHealth on 1st May.

 

We are supporting 2 projects currently. The first is the completion of the Kiwatule Day Care Centre for Pre-School Deaf Children in Kampala.  This is about to open and provide the first ever pre-school educational service for deaf children in Uganda. In addition we are hoping to support leadership training for the committee to establish a National Parents' Association - the committee is composed of regional representatives elected at the conference.

The Kiwatule project is being run by Jackson Mbuusi, former Headmaster of the Uganda School for the Deaf and the Parents' Association training by Dr Joyce Nalugya, both of whom sit on the SignHealth Uganda Steering Committee, Jackson as its Chairman.

Dr Joyce Nalugya is a psychiatrist at Jinja Hospital, some 60 kms from Kampala, the capital.  Joyce's daughter, Deborah attends the Uganda School for the Deaf, where Joyce is Chairman of Governors.

In partnership with the Woodford Foundation, Christopher Brock Trust and Sense International, we are also sponsoring the completion of the new Deafblind Unit at the St Marks VII School for the Deaf in Bwanda, near Masaka in the southwest of Uganda.

We spent much of last year in consultation with colleagues and government officials in Uganda. Their priorities include: a Mental Health service for deaf people, more vocational training opportunities for deaf school-leavers and a national organisation for the parents of deaf children. Together with Deaf Child Worldwide, the international arm of the National Deaf Children's Society, we have sponsored the travel and attendance costs of parents at a national conference for families in Kampala.

We can do so much here for so very little e.g. a deaf child can only start education as a result of £5 spent on a uniform.

SignHealth are working with our partner the Woodford Foundation. You can read their latest newsletter here.