Education for the Most Vulnerable
The Salvation Army in Africa is helping many vulnerable children to access education.
Discover more about the success of students at specialist schools in Kenya and Tanzania, a project helping girls stay in education in Zambia, and a local sponsorship scheme in Mali at this Gallery 101 exhibition, first shown in July 2024.
Kenya
Education of learners with visual impairments
The Salvation Army has been involved in the education of learners with disabilities for a long time. In Kenya, this work commenced in 1942, facilitated by an officer with experience in training people with visual impairments.
1942 1944 The institute offers two types of training, one academic and one trade-based, with learners taught trades including carpentry, shoe-making and gardening. 1954 1960 1967 Today We have seen many students graduate over the years, going on to contribute to the growth of the
country and the disability sector.
Informal training begins at the officers’ training college in Nairobi, with a few individuals learning to read Braille.
Carpentry class
The Salvation Army agrees to partner with the government and build The Thika Technical School for the Blind. Twenty students are enrolled initially.
The institute offers primary education to visually-impaired learners, changing its name to Thika School for the Blind. Girls enrol at the institute for the first time.
A nursery school opens within the primary school, with a total of 17 children enrolled.
The Thika High School for the Blind is opened to support learners to continue their education into high school.
Going into the ICT world
The Salvation Army continues to provide quality education to learners with visual impairment, helping individuals become independent.
The Salvation Army has played a big role in the field of education of learners with visual impairments in Kenya.
- It was the first to provide training for teachers of learners with visual impairments.
- It developed the first curriculum for visually-impaired learners and adapted the curriculum for the needs of those students.
Thika School Graduates
The legacy of Thika School is its graduates, including:
Country Director CBM Global – Kenya
Teacher
Executive CEO Kenya Union of the Blind
Musician
Government Spokesperson
The Salvation Army
Tanzania
Matumaini School
Matumaini means ‘hope’ in Swahili. Since the school started in 1967, it has been providing education and hope to primary school children living with physical disabilities and albinism. The school is run by the Tanzania Territory with generous support from other Salvation Army territories.
The school’s main aim is to support children with special needs who have historically been undervalued and kept from education because of their disabilities. It currently has a total of 210 students, 100 girls and 110 boys, recruited from all over the country.
As well as providing primary education, Matumaini School is also dedicated to improving the health of the children through physical therapy and surgery when needed. The onsite orthopaedic department provides specialised devices such as orthopaedic callipers, shoes and crutches.
Children learn new things outside of the classroom too. Recent study tours have included trips to Makumbusho historical camp and South Beach in Dar-es-Salaam. During a weekly study tour, pupils have a chance to socialise with students from Tanganyika International School.
Community involvement
Matumaini School is embedded in and supported by the local community. Parents pay 100,000 Tsh (approx. 40USD) per year in school fees and contribute 3kg of soap per student. Local churches, businesses and other donors offer different in-kind gifts, including clothes, shoes, school bags, sweets and juice, while universities and school colleges provide volunteers and work experience students. Representatives from the school have been invited by the police to speak on children’s security rights.
Students at Matumaini School still face many social challenges. Some children have been abandoned by their parents or guardians. Sometimes, fathers have run away after learning of their children’s disabilities, leaving mothers to provide care alone. The underlying issue is poverty, which is exacerbating gender inequalities.
There are many students across Tanzania who would benefit from a chance to study in Matumaini School, but resources are limited, and a lot of children remain at home without education.
Zambia and Mali
Zambia: Hygiene supporting education
In Zambia, a Salvation Army Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project is supporting children to stay in education.
Menstrual periods are one of the primary causes of school absence among girls. As well as supporting good sanitation and general hygiene in schools, the Salvation Army WASH project also promotes effective menstrual hygiene management. Girls benefit from better health and well-being and are less likely to drop out of school.
The project has also been essential in promoting gender equality by building girls’ confidence to attend school and dispelling menstruation myths, which decreases discrimination among peers, particularly boys.
Mali: School Sponsorship
Mali is a country with a low literacy rate. Many children miss school from an early age, often because their parents cannot afford to send them or because they are forced to work from as young as six.
Women's Ministries in The Salvation Army's Mali Region are working to change this. Disadvantaged children from three local areas are given the opportunity to start or continue their education with financial support to cover their school fees.
Now in its second year, the project is going well, with most of the children still in education and making good progress. The local Salvation Army is now looking to mobilise more funds to extend the project to more children on the waiting list.