Deaf Aid is a Norwegian organization with a vision to work for the inclusion of the deaf in the African community and focusing on deaf children and young people in Kenya.
Through the influence and actively work to improve schooling / education, enhancing access and quality of sign language, providing knowledge and support to parents and general information on all levels of society will lead to a change of attitude and provide a better life and future for the deaf in Kenya and Africa.
Programs at Deaf Aid Kenya
Education Support Program (ESP)
Education Support Program (ESP) was initiated with the aim of providing proper educational foundation for the hearing impaired children that caused their poor performance at school. Since there were no early childhood development centers for the hearing impaired, Kibera Green House School was initiated to bridge the academic gap between infancy and childhood to prepare the children for primary school.
Due to overwhelming number of hearing impaired children seeking admission at Green House Kibera, Deaf Aid opened Green House Kariobangi in 2011 to accommodate children from Eastern region of Nairobi. Due to increased need for early childhood education centers for the hearing impaired, we opened Green House Savannah to absorb the children.
The Green House Schools have registered tremendous successes since 2007 and these have been as a result of co-curricular activities that have been integrated into the Green House School’s programs such as:
- Exchange programs with other schools for deaf children. This improves the social and cognitive skills of our children in addition to challenging their academic level since the program entails competition in various curriculum subjects.
- Sports activities that help to let out the pent-up energy of anger and resentment which may accumulate due to the social stigma of being ‘different’ from others
- Acrobatics, swimming and music are the other activities at our school. Through these, the children sharpen their life skills of team work, develop virtues like obedience and patience and also discover their talents.
PIAR Program
Prevention, Identification, Assessment & Referral (PIAR) services revolve around Deaf Aid’s Mobile Hearing Clinic (MHC) which provides outreach intervention services all over Kenya with focus on slums and grass roots.
PIAR was developed as a result of the need for early ear problem identification and treatment for children. A Deaf Aid research that was funded by NORAD revealed that 78% of children with hearing impairment in Kenya could have had the opportunity to study in mainstream schools like their peers if they had early access to quality early intervention.
Our Mobile Hearing Clinic (MHC) is fully equipped with advanced Audiometric instruments, Otoscopy kit and a fully stocked pharmacy. We have two qualified audiologists, two Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists and a medical secretary.
We focus on creating awareness about the causes and treatment of ear diseases and deafness by using pictorial teaching aids and Kiswahili language that breaks down communication barrier. This enables parents and guardians of children to easily spot early signs of ear infections, hearing loss and be able to make quick informed decisions that can prevent deafness.
As part of a MoU with Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MoEST), we; train Over 100 Education Assessment Research Center (EARC) officers across the Country, through MoEST.
This has been on course since 2013, the objective being to promote early identification for appropriate intervention and quality rehabilitation. The EARCs’ trainings have seen Audiometric equipment made available to three regions namely Nairobi, Western and North Eastern.
EARCs across the Country, through Deaf Aid and MoEST, have a platform for information sharing and sharing of best practices. The Community of Practice seeks to promote linkages and improve service delivery among stakeholders. We provide Hard of hearing and residual hearing children with hearing aids. We also provide pre and post counseling of the guardian and child about the device, speech therapy and taking care of the hearing aid. The PIAR Program has successfully managed to provide screening services to more than 8,000 people in Nairobi and beyond.
Deaf Youth Empowerment Program (DYEP)
Deaf Youth Empowerment Program (DYEP) was initiated in 2009 to provide accessible and practical industry driven skills to the deaf youth and young adults. The main goal of the project is economic empowerment that will contribute to improving their livelihood through job opportunities and entrepreneurship.
The provision of accessible industry driven courses tailored and adapted specifically to meet the needs of both the deaf youth and the job market not only make our students marketable but also fill in the gap of marginalization, experience of high cost of education and ever increasing entry requirements’ to higher education in Kenya. We provide practical professional and entrepreneurship skills to the deaf in their own medium of communication and enable efficient skills acquisition and social integration through employment or entrepreneurship.
The Satellite Academies are Academies set up in deaf schools. This project is initiated by Deaf Aid through sponsorship by Kenya Airways to set up 5 Computer Academies in 5 regions in Kenya. These Satellite Academies include:
- St. Angela in Western Region
- Reverent Muhoro in Central Region
- Karen Technical Institute For The Deaf in Nairobi Region
- Kolwal Integrated Disability Centre in Nyanza Region
- Gianchere Friends School For The Deaf in Nyanza Region
Contact us
+254 (0) 20 201 2900
post@deafaid.org
Working Hours
Monday – Friday from 8am – 4:30pm.