Events
Time with the kids at SENCRAC
Kasa Fie has partnered with the Special Educational Needs, Counselling and Dramatherapy Centre (SENCDRAC), a non-governmental organization aimed at providing interventions for children between the ages of 8 to 16 who have been diagnosed with a form of special need. These interventions aim to increase the quality of life of such children and develop their communication skills while drawing out their talents.
The crucial areas of SENCDRAC’s concentration are children with learning problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and emotional disturbances. These children often experience difficulties in the classroom and on the playground, leading to disruptive behaviour,
difficulty forming and maintaining friendships, low self-esteem, and poor academic achievement.
SENCDRAC’s intervention processes include Dramatherapy and Psychodrama, which use primarily role-play to express and integrate emotions, beliefs, values, and thoughts to promote a sense of self-actualization essential in building positive self-esteem and consequently, improving communication skills, social integration, and learning. Expressive Arts facilitates change through a dramatic process and uses the potential of drama/theatre to reflect and transform life experiences to enable pupils to express and work through problems they are encountering. SENCDRAC also uses this form of therapy as an
intervention to unearth creative skills.
Harmony Community Disability Center
The Harmony Community Disabled Center (HCDC) is a mission located in Bujumbura, Central Region, providing amenities and necessities to support disabled people and the community. The centre started in 2004 to care for both adults and children who got disabled during the Liberian War. Later, it officially began taking care of disabled children and currently has 52 children, 35 of whom are regulars at the centre daily, while 17 cannot come due to various reasons. The centre is open from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. when the children are picked up by their guardians.
The children and adults with stroke complications at the centre have different disabilities, including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, deafness, physical challenges, and speech problems. Although the centre has no professional therapist, it tries to provide care and therapy with speech, massage, and occupational training using fine sand as a material.
However, the centre faces numerous challenges due to a lack of support and being in an underprivileged community, such as being overcrowded, understaffed, working with inadequate amenities, and severely in need of emergency help. Some of the challenges include:
– Using uncompleted buildings for the therapy centre, classrooms, and kitchen
– Lack of equipment, materials, and teaching stationary for therapy, playing, and basic needs for the children
– Clothing, mats, and tables for therapy, and additional staff
– Transportation, no electricity, and a nurse and a professional therapist
Kasafie has adopted HCDC and is working to get the centre back on its feet. Therefore, the
centre provides a much-needed humanitarian service to the community and surrounding
areas.
