By Staff Reporter
MASVINGO – Catholic-run Ratidzo Zimcare Trust School will on June 27 conduct an awareness campaign in Mucheke to increase the school and organization’s visibility.
School head Bernadette Chihava said the campaign was meant to raise awareness in the area that people with intellectual disability could still go to school and learn to become independent people.
She said the campaign was necessitated by the fact that there were members of the community with children with intellectual disabilities who were keeping them away from the public not knowing that they were just human beings like everyone else and deserved the right to education.
“We are going to do an awareness campaign to market the school as well as conscientize people that persons with intellectual disability can still come to school and learn so that they become independent rather than depending on others.
“There are many children with intellectual disabilities yet parents or guardians shy away from exposing them to school. As a result, they remain dependent on caregiving throughout their lives. Our school provides daily living skills as well as survival skills to children with intellectual disabilities,” said Chihava.
She went on to say as a school they were capable of capacitating intellectually disabled people on basic social issues for them to be able to do basics like brushing teeth and wearing clothes properly among other things.
She said they also train them on hands-on skills like gardening, poultry production and other agricultural skills which they can use after leaving the school at the age of 18.
She said after graduating those who afford would advance to adult centers where they would learn more but many were facing financial challenges as they were expected to pay fees.
“We teach them a lot of activities like basic social skills. They have to be able to wash their bodies alone, brush teeth, and do laundry among other things. We also teach them agriculture among others skills and we wean them at the age of 18.
“After that they can advance to adult centers but many fail to proceed because there they will be expected to pay fees unlike here where they do not pay fees as we rely on BEAM,” she said.
The school relies on donations from different organizations and individuals as well since the government is failing to release BEAM funds on time.
