Landscape near the project

The idea of starting a home for Deaf and Deafblind children started in the work-motto that is: “TOGETHER WE CAN SAVE LIVES”. This was in July 2009, when the project was formed as a Community Based Organization [CBO] dealing with Deaf and Deafblind children. It is run by people who volunteer to help and support those children in Kenya.

Kenya is one of many countries in East Africa where many people with a disability are not given an opportunity to receive the right health care, education, housing, or an opportunity for a school graduation like other children.
There are many orphanages and centres for children across the country which give hope to many orphans and access to food, clothes and a proper medical care system. But only a few of these orphanages keep a place in their centre to accept children who are Deaf or Deafblind. One reason for this is the problem of misunderstanding. For example some orphanages think that including Deaf and Deafblind children will give them a bigger burden. Some centers also think that this inclusion could have bad side effects for the other children who are not Deaf and Deafblind. So many of them live under hard conditions. They don’t have any family members, and those who have relatives face several prejudices as they think that those children have no place to belong to and that they are a big burden for the society.

It’s sad to see that most of those children who get little support from their relatives get half way education and have nowhere to go.  And especially they don’t have any place to go when the school is closed for holiday. For those reasons the Kids of Maseno Centre will be the first orphanage centre in Kenya that will support Deaf and Deafblind orphans.