Using the knowledge to improve the situation of children with special needs

The specific aims of NOREC project are to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which contains different articles -  for example right to get education, employment, living quality life, habilitation and rehabilitation, protection and security.

This project gives me useful experience, knowledge and skills by exchanging different views by our fellow participants from Norway on how to improve quality life for people with disabilities in my country.

In my country I think that people with special needs, specifically children with disabilities, lives poor lives. They are being discriminated, segregated and lives in poor conditions. Therefore, through the new knowledge I have got in the project in Norway, I plan to use this knowledge to improve the situation of children with special needs at my working station, at Mbede primary school in Mpimbwe council-Mlele district-Katavi region.

In particularly, I will focus on the UN`s Rights Convention of persons with Disabilities (CRPD) article 24 about the right to inclusive education and article 8 about rising awareness.

The empowerment and the right of inclusive education is not well implemented in Tanzania due to the unawareness of our people in the society. Some of the parents are still hiding their children in their homes and do not take them to school. They fear that it will bring shame to the family when others know that they have a child with disability. This situation can complicate the life situations for the children with special needs, including physical health and even deaths. When I will be back to my home country, I’m going to change the poor perceptions and mindset of the society to empower the children with special needs to get education as their rights.

When I go back in Tanzania I’m planning:

• To empower the children with special needs to get education, by stopping the situation of keeping the children in their homes.
• To create awareness in the society about the situation of the children with disabilities and their rights through UN`s rights in different articles in CRC and CRPD.

• Stop practices of violence to the people with disabilities in my society such as segregation and discrimination.

I expect to have a support from my family, friends, society and I also depend much on my government in order to contributes to these objectives. That support will be very useful in my plan about how to inform and educate the society on the situations and needs on rights of children with disabilities and make my society become aware about UN`s rights on people with disabilities.

My expectations or plans when I go back to my country

I will try to convince the government to build good infrastructure by talking with my employer and different organizations to help in case of money and ideas. For example build hostels, and provide materials for the children and make them have education without being discriminated.

I will also advice the government to initiate and effective public awareness and arrange campaigns designed in order to promote positive awareness to the society towards people with disabilities and children.

• To rises awareness through different articles in CRC and CRPD through village, school, staff meetings by announcing them to be aware about it.

• Also, I’m going to encourage all organs of the media to disseminate and portray persons with disabilities and children, for example the radiostations and television to make the society aware of the rights of children and people with disabilities.

I am going to prepare leaflets and posters and spread it in different social media like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram.

In my district, there are several specialist teachers who are not working with pupils that have special needs. I will try to advise my employer to place these teachers in schools where there are puils with special needs, in order to reduce the lack of special teachers in our region.