School for the Deaf
The School for the Deaf is located in Musanze. Musanze is the second largest city in Rwanda. The school is dedicated to the education and improvement of deaf Rwandan children and young adults. There is a cultural aversion among many Rwandans to deaf (and other disabled) children. Often they are marginalized, abused, or even abandoned.
This school for the deaf provides a safe haven for these children. Seated on just a few acre patch of property and consisting of a series of rudimentary buildings with no plumbing, electricity or running water, the Deaf School is a cluster of a half-dozen classrooms, boys and girls dormitories, a vocational work area, sewing area, kitchen and mess hall area, and a dirt play area.
The resident students, all of who are deaf and who range in age from 3 to 20 years old. Many of these students were “deposited” here, with no other option or place to go. The students are housed, clothed, cared for and educated. They are taught self-esteem, love and human rights. While the facilities are primitive at best, they are clean, orderly, efficient, and provide a safe environment for these students, who otherwise may fall prey to outside predatory activity.
The students learn sign language, reading, mathematics, history, English, geography and also vocational skills such as elementary carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and sewing.
The goal of this special place is to provide a safe and secure environment for these students to learn, develop and thrive. We are working to help develop a skill set that will lead to self-sufficiency. Yambi Rwanda works to raise funds earmarked for the School for the Deaf, to provide subsistence funding for the remarkable programs, food, and clothing for the students and to help improve and develop the school's infrastructure.
We are so pleased to be able to provide an egg a day to these precious kids, who are now thriving and growing in better health, improved cognition and stronger minds and bodies. Yambi has just completed a major renovation of the school facilities structurally and seeks to continue these large projects to improve the lives of these amazing students.
