HANDICAPPED CHILDREN FIND THEIR VOICES IN KIZITO’S CLASSES

Mar 10, 2009

THE scene at Entebbe Children’s Welfare School may force you to pity these children, but save your pity — they do not need it.

BY GLADYS KALIBBALA

THE scene at Entebbe Children’s Welfare School may force you to pity these children, but save your pity — they do not need it.

Although some have saliva dripping from their mouths and others are deformed as a result of convulsions, they have learnt to be self-reliant.

Many had mental disabilities but learnt to cope, thanks to the dedication of Felistus Kizito, the school’s first head teacher.

William Bagoole, 32, ran away from Kiwafu Primary School in 1988 and stayed at home for about two months. He was a slow learner and the other children made fun of him and beat him.

He was transferred to Entebbe Children’s Welfare School where he studied from 1988 to 1997. He praises Kizito for helping him learn to cope with life as well as read and write.

“I now do my private work and can cook or mop the house when the maid is away,” he says.

Amos Kiige recalls that while in P.2 at Bugonga Boys School, he would beat all those who taunted him because of his body odour. He once threw a boy, who was teasing him, down the stairs.

However, when his parents transferred him to Entebbe Welfare School, the violent behaviour came under control. He recalls that during his time at the school, from June 1989 to 2001, Kizito had time for all the children and they were like a family where nobody teased or laughed at them. Kiige later started a poultry project.

Ruth Nabasirye, who is physically disabled, studied at the school for one year and was referred to St Joseph Katabi Primary School. She graduated from Makerere University in 2007 with a degree in secretarial studies.

These are a few of the handicapped children who went through this school, the brain child of Kizito. She sold the idea of opening up a special needs school to the Entebbe municipal officials in 1985.

Kizito, who specialised in training lower classes at Nkozi Teacher Training College (TTC) in the 1960s, explains that she got the idea after she realised that teachers and parents were stuck with such children.

“Many teachers were sending them away from school, calling them ‘stupid’ because they could not learn to read and write!” she explains.

Kizito says these children need to be taught according to their individual abilities. “They may not be able to write but may be good at drawing or sewing and many other activities.”

She notes that most parents with such children do not want to waste time on them and lock them up in their houses because they cannot grasp concepts easily.

“The children do not have the ability to acquire knowledge like other children so you have to take them at their pace,” she says.

When she realised the plight of handicapped children, Kizito recalled her time at Nkozi TTC, when a tutor gave them an example of a handicapped girl she met while on teaching practice. The tutor gave them tips on how to cope with such cases.

“When I remembered that girl’s case, I decided to put into practice what we had learnt to show the public that children with disabilities can become self-reliant and do something on their own,” she adds.

In 1985, through an arrangement with the then district education officer (DEO), Hassan Mabuya, Kizito integrated five children with disabilities in her class at St Theresa Primary School until the Ministry of Education allowed her to start a special needs school.

At the time, Entebbe Welfare School had a nursery section, St Helen Nursery. Since the five children could not study with those in the nursery section, Kizito created a classroom for them on the verandah.

She was shocked when parents started withdrawing their children from St Helen, claiming they were being frightened by “Felistus’ children”

Some parents asked if she was going nuts. “How can you leave the money we could pay for the ‘normal’ children in preference for those who will never learn anything?” she recalls a parent asking.

The problem did not lie with parents alone. No teacher wanted to join the new school. Kizito taught the children alone for a long time until a volunteer from the Netherlands joined her.

Later, the DEO allowed her to recruit a teacher who could be trained on the job.

In 1988, the education ministry trained Kizito in special needs at Kyambogo for two years. She retired in 2003, leaving Gertrude Nakanaabi as head teacher of the school, which now boasts about 50 children and nine teachers.

Born on January 21 1942, Kizito is the daughter of the late Batulumawo and Helen Gwotayisenaye of Butoolo village, Mawokota. She studied at St Anne Ggooli Primary School then Nkozi TTC.

She first taught at Ntuusi Boarding School in Sembabule district in 1966, Mugwanya Preparatory School, Kabojja and St Theresa’s Primary School, Entebbe.

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