Kathy Bowler's April - August update

September is the time of graduation and we are excited to have so many children on the move. Linda has attended the Mua School for the Deaf for the past 12 years. Initially the children attend preschool classes for 4 years while they learn how to read lips and cope in the classroom situation as well as learning all the usual preschool activities. Then they enter the Primary School programs which run from Standard One to Eight. Once they finish Primary School they must write the Primary School Leaving exams to see if they qualify for Secondary School. Linda did very well on these exams and as a result she has been selected to attend one of the best Government Secondary Schools in Lilongwe.7 of the children from our Preschool, 3 from the Special Class, 5 from the Hearing Impaired class and 1 from the Visually Impaired Class are also all moving on to Primary School. Arthur and his 2 sisters have Epilepsy. They all attend our Preschool and the Epilepsy clinic. Both Arthur and his sister Hannah are doing very well at the Preschool. Arthur starts Primary School this year and Hannah will follow him next year. All 3 of the children are now seizure free!Bright is another one of our Preschool students who will move on to Standard One this year. He has attended our programs since he was one year old together with his 2 older brothers. Now his baby brother is also coming to our Preschool. All of the boys struggled with malnutrition and delayed development when they were young. They all have benefited from our nutrition program and the Preschool. Bright’s two older brothers are attending School already and this year Bright will join them. It is fun to watch them grow up and do well.Emma started attending our programs when she was just a baby. Her Mom was not sure if Emma was able to see so we were able to send her to see an Eye Specialist. Emma was found to be blind. She also has a physical disability that affects one side of her body. Emma started out in Level Two in our Children’s Rehabilitation Program. She was already able to sit but needed help learning how to stand and walk. This of course was made much harder because she could not see where she was going! It was pretty scary for Emma once she started walking with her walking frame but she and her Mom worked hard and practiced at home and at the Preschool. This year Emma has started walking on her own. She has also just started working with the Teacher for the Visually Impaired. She is being taught how to walk around on your own. Soon she will begin to work on the basics of Braille.Aaron was already in Standard 3 when he first came to Children of Blessing Trust. He was struggling to see. We sent him to see the Eye Specialist but he did not respond to treatment. The pressure in his eyes would not return to a normal level. Aaron also worked with our Teacher for the Visually Impaired to learn how to read and write in Braille. He returned to school at the School for the Blind. He did so well this year that he has skipped 2 years to enter Standard 7.