S. D. Cho, Handicap Initiative Support and Network (HISAN), Somalia.
hisansom@gmail.com
Located in Merka, Somalia, the Rainbow School for the Blind was started in 2004. Beginning as a Braille Centre, it begun with 3 teenage boys. The school faced a lot of challenges, not least because of the lack of proper government structure, and all the teaching materials had to be imported. These challenges led to the conversion from a Braille Centre to a School. On World Sight Day, the school put out activities to sensitize the community and government such as exhibitions, presentations and competition between unsighted and sighted students. The community finally not only accepted, but also respected the students as able members of the society. The result has been that parents opt to send their sighted children to the Rainbow School, meaning that the children learn from one another in an inclusive setting, and some have set their dreams on becoming Special Needs Education teachers.
