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School's in 2
Lauren tries to help during a maths class... Feeling refreshed after ten hours of Z’s, we headed out to explore. Inside The Salvation Army’s compound is a school for physically handicapped children. We toured the school in the morning, speaking with a number of staff members about its operation and students.
If you are physically handicapped in Tanzania it’s more than likely you will be shunned. Many miss out on schooling and those who are educated are still not likely to be employed. The Salvation Army is trying to change this mind-set.
At the School for the Physically Handicapped the children are treated with love and respect. There are about 180 students, half of whom live at the facility because their family lives outside of Dar es Salaam. The children don’t just get an education, but three meals a day, individual physiotherapy sessions and custom made shoes, leg-braces, walking frames and, if necessary, wheelchairs.
However, money is an issue. The institution is totally reliant on overseas sponsors and can only cater for about half of the disabled children who require its serves. The kitchen is fitted with gas but cooking is done over hot coals because using gas is too expensive. The ageing buildings that house the students
School's In
Children at The Salvation Army’s school for the physically handicapped. are falling into disrepair with no money in the budget for maintenance or upgrades. These are just some of the challenges faced by staff and students.
After the tour we headed into town to change some money and check the place out. We drove in on main road. It was tarred but very potholed. Off that main road though, as you headed into the suburbs/slums, the roads are dirt. Later that afternoon it started to rain turning everything to mud. On our way back to the compound in the rain, we drove past this very impressive looking tall building. It looked like it would have been more at home in Sydney, Melbourne or even New York, but here it was sitting in the middle of Dar es Salaam. I gazed up at this magnificent looking building, all shiny glass and chrome. At its base ran a pot-holed dirt road, with a man pushing a loaded bicycle through an ankle deep puddle. What a contradiction.
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