Friday was our first full day in Bahir Dar and we had the pleasure of visiting with Aynalem Ayalew, a special education professor at Bahir Dar University. She took us to visit her Kal Center for Special Needs, a resource center for the empowerment of the deaf community.
With a grant from Vision Global, she and a handful of other local residents are serving deaf students and other deaf youth, as well as their families, by teaching them sign language, vocational training and more. The center also is working with hearing students and teachers so they can be advocates for the deaf students at their public schools. The center also supports Bahir Dar’s three existing schools for the deaf with assessment and treatment.
This holistic, community approach is in sharp contrast to Ethiopia’s traditional treatment of children with disabilities – viewing them as a family curse and keeping them at home from view of others. By helping deaf students develop independence amid a supportive community, the students and youth will likely have a much brighter future and can contribute more to their community.
Ayalew is a lively woman whose passion for children and youth with hearing impairments and other challenges is clearly evident. She saw a need in her community and worked to find a solution.
“We are also creating a virtual network with other domestic and international schools so we can work together and are creating short educational films about deafness to educate the community,” Ayalew said. The center also has developed a professional exchange with Nazareth College in upstate New York, she said.
Representatives from Appalachian’s Reich College of Education had met Ayalew during their exploratory visit to Bahir Dar in Spring 2014. Having gotten to know her mission and the center’s needs, they were able to secure tuning forks for hearing assessment and an external hard drive to support the center’s work, which our team delivered. Ayalew was thrilled.
With a grant from Vision Global, she and a handful of other local residents are serving deaf students and other deaf youth, as well as their families, by teaching them sign language, vocational training and more. The center also is working with hearing students and teachers so they can be advocates for the deaf students at their public schools. The center also supports Bahir Dar’s three existing schools for the deaf with assessment and treatment.
This holistic, community approach is in sharp contrast to Ethiopia’s traditional treatment of children with disabilities – viewing them as a family curse and keeping them at home from view of others. By helping deaf students develop independence amid a supportive community, the students and youth will likely have a much brighter future and can contribute more to their community.
Ayalew is a lively woman whose passion for children and youth with hearing impairments and other challenges is clearly evident. She saw a need in her community and worked to find a solution.
“We are also creating a virtual network with other domestic and international schools so we can work together and are creating short educational films about deafness to educate the community,” Ayalew said. The center also has developed a professional exchange with Nazareth College in upstate New York, she said.
Representatives from Appalachian’s Reich College of Education had met Ayalew during their exploratory visit to Bahir Dar in Spring 2014. Having gotten to know her mission and the center’s needs, they were able to secure tuning forks for hearing assessment and an external hard drive to support the center’s work, which our team delivered. Ayalew was thrilled.