Your support will help more children to like Tsiry to build futures full of opportunities.
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Supporting a child to build a future
When Tsiry was just three years old, his mother noticed something wasn’t right. His eyes wouldn’t focus and he struggled to keep his balance when he walked.
When he was younger, he was taken to an ophthalmologist who prescribed glasses. However, when Tsiry started school he was singled out because of his sight problems. Other children taunted him and even adults turned away.
Gradually Tsiry began to withdraw from the world around him. He became quiet and shy, keeping his head down, and trying to make himself invisible. Like so many children with disabilities in the world’s poorest communities, the message he received was clear: school was not for him.
“People would stare at us in the street. It made me sad to see my son being teased. He didn’t even want to play with the other children any more” his mother said.
From exclusion to education
Everything changed when the family heard about a school based in a nearby church. The school is part of CBM’s MAHAY Inclusive Education Project.
The project is made possible because of CBM supporters. It ensures that children with disabilities are not left behind, but welcomed, supported and able to learn. As a result, Tsiry was able to move to a school where teachers are trained to support him. Not only that but his classmates are encouraged to include him and his disability is not treated as a failure.
“Since he started school, he has changed a lot. I’m very happy to see his progress,” his mother says.
Today, Tsiry holds his head higher. He talks to others without hiding. He is slowly becoming more confident.
Your support is urgently needed
Sadly, Tsiry’s experience is still the exception in Madagascar, not the rule.
Thousands of children with disabilities are still excluded from school. Stigma, a lack of trained teachers, inaccessible classrooms, and limited support for families all play a part. It means that many children are denied their basic right to learn.
Your support today can help change this. It will enable CBM and our partners to train staff to create an inclusive environment to support children like Tsiry. It will also contribute to making schools more accessible, with ramps, toilets, handrails, and appropriate learning materials, so that no child is turned away because of a physical barrier. And it will help raise awareness in communities so that they can provide targeted support to children who need it most.
Photos: ©CBM/Rakotoarivony
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From exclusion to education