Read how God is using teacher Sarah to help disabled children in Bolivia overcome their challenges and to support their parents.
“Thirteen- year-old Landi* has cerebral palsy and finds it hard to speak clearly, but alternative means of communication aren’t commonplace here, so he’s been left without a voice and it’s clear how frustrating he finds that. We’ve been testing out low-tech communication devices and were able to have a great 10-minute conversation for the first time ever!” says Special Education Needs teacher Sarah Allen, who’s helping disabled children and their families as she serves in Bolivia.
“Children with disabilities in Bolivia face widespread stigma and their parents often feel guilt and shame,” she explains. “Families need the help of their community the most, yet often find themselves ostracised. An ongoing issue is that kids with a diagnosis are either rejected from schools or are accepted and shunned and unsupported.”
Sarah works with Landi as she supports a centre a few says a week, called Luz y Esperanza (Light and Hope) that’s run by a Christian couple.
“I met the couple who founded the centre about a year ago, as we were all trying to start support groups for parents of kids with disabilities,” she recalls.
“They offered to give me one of their spare rooms to work with kids with disabilities and provide some academic support and early intervention to kids who otherwise would have no way to afford it. Some of these kids are in school, but others have been rejected from various ones and don’t currently attend. So far, there are about six kids coming regularly, with numbers increasing weekly!
“‘Another boy I work with is Javier* who also has cerebral palsy. He’s fully verbal, and incredibly intelligent, but has only been accepted by special schools that do little academic work, so he ends up bored and frustrated.
“We’ve been working once a week to get him more and more fluent and he’s now reading well, despite having never been in a school that saw the point in teaching him how.
“His mum has managed to find a mainstream school near their home that’s open to accepting him with an assistant and has asked if I’d come along to help train up the staff in how to teach him, so I’m excited to see how we can help him to reach his full potential.”
Sarah has also built relationships and gained the trust of parents of disabled children through the support groups she helps run. “Over time, the parents begin to ask why we’re doing it and why we care – both about them and their kids and it’s opened up conversations about Jesus and the gospel.”
Recently, Sarah has begun teaching a group of disabled children who live in the local women’s prison with their mums.
“The law in Bolivia states that children are allowed to live in prison with their incarcerated mothers until one day before their seventh birthday,” she explains. “In the women’s prison, there are about 35-40 kids, ranging from newborns up to those who are almost seven. Once old enough, they go to daycare or school, but are bussed back into the prison, where they sleep in cells with their mothers, and up to 60 other people, depending on the type of cell they can afford to rent.
“One day, the director sent me a message with a number for Loida, who’s in charge of the programme that brings the kids from the prison and out to school. She invited me to go to the prison with her to meet the mums, which I jumped at the chance to do!
“After Loida shared a devotional, the lady at my right turned to chat with me and said, ‘I need you to help me, because I lived on the streets – and I think it has affected my brain and I struggle to parent my daughter. Sometimes I just lose my temper and I don’t know how to parent her differently – but I want to because I love her so much.’
“He daughter is one of the kids I was asked to observe – a child suffering with a variety of learning issues, as well as speech and behavioural problems. Another morning, I sat with three parents of kids who are really struggling in school, including this lady, and we discussed parenting and how to help our children with all the things they’re struggling with. We talked about where we can go from here, what would be helpful, and what might work and what doesn’t.
“And as I stood in that Bolivian women’s prison and we prayed to an omnipresent God, it was so obvious that he was right there with us. I’m now planning to train and equip the teachers how best to help the kids from the prison and pray that as the mothers receive support in school – and as we try to support them in parenting – that we’d also see them start to overcome some of their struggles.”
*Names changed
Please pray:
- For parents as they struggle to raise their children in a society that doesn’t value them and has few resources for them.
- For the mums in prison to trust Sarah as she shares the gospel with them, and that this might then impact on how they parent their children.
- For upcoming training to teach from a trauma-informed perspective to help support those with learning differences, behavioural issues and more – and that this would allow for more effective learning in the classroom.