Educate 50 Kids with Disabilities in Honduras

 The Un Mundo Special Education and Health Program emerged in response to concerns of parents of disabled children who suffered from the lack of access to special education and health services.   During three years, with the support of Un Mundo, children were transported daily to a special school at the nearest town;  but the program could only support at most nine children, and it created problems for those few.  In addition to the long and difficult road they had to travel daily, children were separated from their families and friends.

 Finally, the parents of the disabled children, who make up the Parents Association that runs the project, accompanied by Un Mundo, decided to approach the local educational authorities to request the inclusion of their children into the regular school systems in their communities.  Several teachers and heads of schools argued they did not have the proper infrastructure nor the needed training to take care of children with disabilities.  However, the Parents Association, in conjunction with Un Mundo, had already anticipated this possible scenario and had previously prepared a network of young volunteers to take care of children and youngsters with physical-motor and learning disabilities in the classroom.  Thus teachers would have appropriate help in every classroom where a child with a disability was present.  This was one of the first achievements in our communities, thanks to the efforts of the Parents Association, the network of young volunteers, Un Mundo, and the unconditional support of our donors.

It has been a few years since we began the process of integrating children with disabilities into regular schools and we talked to one of the teachers who at the time was not very convinced with the positive results of our School Inclusion for the Disabled project.

We talked with Isabel Juárez, a teacher of generations who has contributed to the teaching of children capable of developing numerous skills in education and culture.  She has worked in the communities of El Pital and Toncontin in the Cangrejal Valley region.  During a meeting in 2013 with Un Mundo staff and members of the disabled children’s Parents Association, Isabel stated that she “had had many doubts about the program since we had never worked in special education and had not received training in that area. Now, everything has changed as result of training and motivation; as well as the support offered to children who have certain types of physical and/or mental problems.  All this has helped me as a teacher, educator, and person.  Now, I am more socially aware of people with disabilities.  

According to my perception, the program has caused a significant impact in each participating school.  This is especially true when we look at the excellent coordination that exists between the volunteers and the teachers.  The positive result has been the way children have been helped to overcome their limitations.  Today, I am not a teacher any longer.  I am a school principal. In this position, I can support teachers by raising awareness about the inclusion of children and youth with disabilities in our community’s regular schools.  All this has been made possible thanks to the support of our donors.”