Rotary Club helps establish pre-school for deaf in Africa

    The Edmonton Riverview Rotary Club has combined efforts with a Zimbabwe Rotary club and a Swedish group to establish a pre-school home support program for deaf children in Mutare, Zimbabwe.
    According to Riverview Rotary Club member Mary Ann Bibi, many pre-school children are not diagnosed or treated for hearing impairment because they usually stay at home until six years old, when some will start school.  Many will never go to school and not receive any treatment or training.
    This program gives children a head start through diagnosis, treatment and training.
    Money raised by the Riverview club has been used to establish a clinic and school. A principal, Maria, who holds a PhD, and teachers have been hired.
    The Riverview club raised $4500, which has been doubled eight times with matching grants from Rotary International and various levels of government to produce approximately $36,000.
    “Deaf children learn by play and then we feed in language as they play,” said Bibi.  The school hired a deaf woman, who had no means of support, to make dolls.  They dolls are used to demonstrate how to care for children.  The deaf children are taught sign language to match the demonstration.
    About 40 percent of the children are from Mutare, but the balance travel often long distances by bus to be diagnosed. Parents come with them and also receive training.
    Previously parents never had support and often had no idea about how to help their deaf children.
    Diagnostic equipment allows some children, who are only partly deaf, to hear sounds they had never heard before.
    The clinic and school have been housed in an old people’s home, but land has been donated and the Swedish organization is building a new structure.  Labs will be constructed that are similar to the children’s homes, which most often are without electricity and appliances.  Rooms also will provide families places where they can stay overnight, while the children are being diagnosed and trained.

ZIMBABWE FACTS (http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/zi.html#people)
Population: 11,163,160 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 2,432,785; female 2,389,029)
15-64 years: 54% (male 2,986,531; female 3,059,186)
65 years and over: 3% (male 132,532; female 163,097) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.02% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 30.64 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 20.43 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 61.21 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 38.86 years
male: 38.77 years
female: 38.94 years (1999 est.)
 

Zimbabwe in Pictures (http://www.zimweb.com/zimpics/)



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February 16, 2000