Posted: 28th February 2017
Nahurira Violah, from a neighbouring district of Rukungiri, called Kanungu, has been at Kitazigurukwa Special Needs Unit since 2015. She is 12 years old and she has Down’s syndrome.
When Violah first arrived at Kitazigurukwa, she was very withdrawn and fearful of people. If someone was to approach her, she would often run away – probably due to how she had been treated by people in the past because of her disability. It was the first time she had ever been to school, or had social interaction outside of her homestead.
Now, two years on, if you ask Violah what she likes about being at school, she will reply that she is ‘happy’ and that she has friends at school. When she goes home in the holidays, she is always keen to teach her family what she has been learning at school, particularly crafts, like threading.
The impact hasn’t only been on Violah, but her family too, who have realised that her disability doesn’t leave her ‘without use’. Her father is delighted with her progress at school. He says that when she comes home for the holidays, she now participates in household activities such as washing and preparing food. She is no longer isolated, but is much more sociable and able to communicate with her family members and other neighbours.
Violah used to be an isolated young girl, staying at home, unable and lacking the confidence and means to communicate and express her feelings.
Thanks to the acceptance and support that she receives at Kitazigurukwa Unit, Violah is now a social, interactive young girl, keen to socialize and make friends.
