Kisumu Friday March 15, 2024 2024 KNA By Chris MahandaraThe National Fund for the Disabled of Kenya (NFDK) has unveiled a Sh 2.6 dormitory at Kibos School for the Blind in Kisumu County.
The state of the art boys’ dormitory was realised through collaboration with the Kenya Electricity Generation Company (KENGEN) which pumped in an additional Sh958, 000 to furnish the building.
NFDK Board of Trustees member Cecilia Mbaka said the project was part of the fund’s support for infrastructure development at institutions catering for learners with disabilities.
Speaking during a handing over ceremony at the School, Mbaka who was flanked by KENGEN General Manager Abraham Serem said the facility was set to ease congestion at the school and create space for enrollment of more learners.
The dormitory, designed to cater for learners with special needs, she said stands as a testament to the power of cooperation calling for partnerships with other organisations to support special needs institutions.
The fund, she said, continues to receive numerous applications and requests from the institutions and individuals but lacks the capacity to address all the concerns.
“We don’t have enough funds to support all these projects. The demand is so high that is why we are appealing to well wishers and like minded organisations to support us,” she said.
The money allocated to such projects, she added, comes from rent collected from two houses owned by the fund in Nairobi with additional funds allocated by the government.
“I would like to thank KENGEN for supporting this initiative which has seen two other projects furnished in Elgeyo Marakwet and Machakos counties,” she said.
Mbaka further asked parents with children with disabilities not to hide them at home but take them to special needs institutions so that they are supported.
“When these children come out of the community to join such institutions it encourages them because they realize that there are many others like them,” she said.
KENGEN General Manager Abraham Serem said the partnership with NFDK will improve the learning conditions of the 154 pupils at the institution.Serem said the company which purchased beds, mattresses, sheets and blankets for the dormitory will continue to partner with the fund to support learners with special needs.
Kibos School for the Blind Board of Management Chairman Kennedy Were thanked NFDK and KENGEN for the gesture saying it will go a long way in boosting the morale of the learners.
The school whose foundation stone was laid by the first President Jomo Kenyatta in 1963, was experiencing a myriad of challenges calling for similar partnerships to address them.
Most of the classrooms and dormitories, he added were dilapidated affecting the quality of learning at the institution.
He said the school was in dire need of a fence to secure it since the learners who have special needs were exposed.
The girls, he added also require a similar state of the art dormitory urging KENGEn to consider supporting the two ventures.
Courtesy; KNA
