Guest Post: Sherinah talks about kids with disabilities

I recently asked my friend Sherinah if she would like to do a guest post for my blog. For those of you who also follow Hannah at Because of Shamim, Sherinah is Hannah's formerly sponsored child! Now that she's grown up and graduated the program, Sherinah has started her own ministry to assist children with disabilities and impairments in Uganda. For more information, check out Sherinah's New Hope's website! 

There are so many positive thoughts and hopes on my mind about children with disabilities in Uganda. This thought is about what we can do to create, develop and change life of children with disability in Uganda, as well to arrange a better education system for them, sensitize the community about violence related factors and respect those children’s dignity, and make the world a better place for them and to transform disability into ability. 

Our friend Sherinah!

Well, speaking about disabled children in Uganda, I should love to share my experience as person with hearing impairments, challenges those children meet and how the Compassion sponsorship program has helped the few who are lucky to enroll in Compassion and how their lives have been changed as a result of Compassion sponsorship program!!! 

Finally, any encouragement to Compassion sponsors to consider sponsoring children with disabilities because they are NOT a burden and of course instead they are capable and have special abilities just as I myself.

Some of the children in Sherinah's ministry

Back to myself, I was born hearing and grew up as a normal person until the age of 9  I attended hearing schools and later enrolled to deaf schools as a result of hearing loss. Despite the lack of hearing, (instead of) doing bad at school, I was always among the best.

Compassion staff was always supportive and did not mind my hearing loss, always encouraged me in what so ever and was behind my success.

I am now a finalist at the university in Uganda pursuing Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance. But the loss of hearing has not limited my ambitions- that is why I am proudly speaking that disability is not inability.

HOWEVER this journey is not as smooth for a person or child with disability to reach this level of learning and become as a person I am today.

There are so many challenges children with disabilities face in Uganda, and according to national housing and population census of Uganda 2002, the number of children with disabilities stood at 137,278,  3% (of the population) are either orphans or disabled, [UBOS census report 2005.] Those vulnerable groups of group people encounter a multitude of challenges right from home and throughout the entire society.

Another photo from Sherinah's ministry

Some of those challenges MAY rise as a result of 

a) Lack of parental care.

b) Poverty

c) Lack of education 

d) Communication barriers (especially the deaf) 

e) Inadequate government support  

f) Ignorance of their parents.

g) Lack of public sensitization about the need to help those children.

h) Lack of trained personnel, in most cases on how to handle those 

children and among

Despite the above challenges children with disability face in Uganda, Compassion child sponsorship has played a tremendous role in helping children with special needs that are being enrolled in Compassion's program.Compassion has...

a.) provided education to the children

b) encouraged them to understand that disability is not inability 

c) encouraged those children to be close to God by teaching them bible studies and worship

d) encouraged spirit of sociality to these children these they are not left alone.

Therefore I encourage sponsors worldwide to consider sponsoring children with disabilities through Compassion because they are able and can reach their God given potential.

Many people may be unaware that you can sponsor a child with disabilities through Compassion's program! Below you will see some sweet faces of these precious children in need of a sponsor. Would you consider changing their lives today? Who knows- they may grow up to start their own ministry helping children in their community, just like Sherinah did!!!

Nanthini is 7 years old and lives in India. She lives with her parents and a sibling, and she likes telling stories. Nanthini is crippled in both legs. 

Nayomi is 7 years old and lives in Sri Lanka. She lives with her parents and two siblings, and she likes playing house. Nayomi is visually impaired. 

Sindi is 8 years old and lives in Ecuador. She lives with her grandparents and she likes playing with dolls- and she's doing really well in school! Sindi has partial hearing loss. 

Mueteenue is 8 years old and lives in Thailand. She lives with her parents and two siblings and she likes reading. Mueteenue has epilepsy.

Akwasi is 6 years old and lives in Ghana. He lives with his mom and a sibling and he likes art. Akwasi is visually impaired.