Communication Workshops

A few weeks ago, I was telling my friend, Sarah Gardner, about some of the "malformed" children in the area. (Sarah has years of experience working with disabled children.) I showed her pictures and some video and told her what I could about some of the children. Most of these children cannot speak and they have no communication skills, so they can't ask for even the most basic of needs. Sarah suggested we do a communication Workshop where we would teach the parents and children how to use pictures for their needs or to express emotion. So, we made 45 "Communication Fans" to introduce to the children and their caregivers.

Finally, the day for the workshop arrived. I was able to greet and spend time with some old friends, Ebenezer, Belinda, Ziem, Stephen and others. The first part of the day was for play. The children don't have opportunity to gather and play with or near each other. The Teacher resource Centre was the perfect place for this. As people arrived, children played with blocks, shape sorters and puzzles. They ate breakfast, too.

 

Then, we started our "schedule" (which was up to change at any given moment." After prayer, introductions, objectives, the children were introduced to the Communication Fans. We had food and water ready so that when the children asked for it with the picture, we could give them what they requested.

Each day included two health talks, one on some of the contributing factors that may cause a mother to give birth to a disabled child and one on hand washing. There seems to be plenty of people in this area who have disabilities. One of the biggest reasons is poor nutrition during pregnancy and poor, if any pre-natal care. Alcohol, self medication, smoking were also listed as things to avoid while pregnant. And, after birth, some of the actions that are widely accepted in this area of the world, need to be avoided, too, such as beating your child. On the hand washing issue, many did not realize that you have to wash your hands several times a day AND washing your child's hands is a must, too. Keeping clothing on a child for health reasons was part of the discussion.

All in all, the two workshops went VERY well, thanks be to God and all the help we had! Everyone pitched in to do what they could. It was definitely a co-operative effort! There were 24 disabled who attended the first day and 11 disabled who attended the second day, along with their caregivers and siblings. It was such a good experience. I pray that these workshops will open doors to further ministry to the disabled, who, in their society, are seen as worthless. God sees them as valuable...precious in His sight!