Teacher ‘adopts’ pupil

TOUCHED by the plight of children living with disabilities and the long distances they travel to and from class, a teacher at Fatima Special Needs Primary School in Matabeleland North has adopted a seven-year-old pupil with speech and hearing impairment.

Miss Memory Kashuware a sign language specialist at the primary school has taken the role of a teacher and a guardian after adopting one of the young pupils whom she teaches.

“I took in one child with the blessing of her grandmother. They said she was no longer able to pay boarding fees so she was pulling out of school. She comes from St Luke’s which is about 76 kilometres from the school and she was unable to commute. The mother of the child is said to be in South Africa and the family has lost contact with her,” she said.

Miss Kashuware said she was particularly touched by the fact that a child she was teaching would be pulling out because of boarding fees so she consulted her husband and decided to take care of the child during school days.

Asked on how she was coping, Miss Kashuware said she was able to communicate with the child who has speech and hearing impairment using sign language since she is a specialist in the area.

Miss Kashuware’s wish is to adopt another child who is also in a similar predicament but said she was facing space challenges.

“There is another little girl who is five years old that I want to take in but the problem is that I have a small house and cannot accommodate any more people. I want to do the best I can for these children as long as I am able. I am also calling upon well wishers to help the pupils,” she said.

Miss Kashuware said her hope for the pupils at the school who live with various impairments which also include visual and intellectual, was to see a boarding facility constructed for them.

“These students are housed at Fatima Secondary School as the primary school has no boarding facilities so they walk a distance of eight kilometres per day from the school. This is not only a long distance but also a serious risk as they walk through a bush where they are at risk from attacks by wild animals and even abusers,” she said.

Although no cases of abuse have been reported yet, Miss Kashuware said the children were particularly vulnerable because of the various physical, intellectual and challenges which criminals can take advantage of.

Some of the children from Fatima Special Needs School are housed at a church hostel near the school.

Pupils at the primary school come from as far as Binga, Hwange and Victoria Falls.