About Our Organisation

Background

Around one billion people worldwide live with disabilities, 80% of them in low resourced countries. In Uganda, 26% of the population live with disabilities. Since approximately 57% of the Ugandan population is below the age of 18 years, it is estimated that there are over 3,000,000 children in Uganda with disabilities. These range from extremely severe physical and/or mental disabilities, to very mild ones that are hardly noticeable.

Most communities still view disability as a bad omen, bad luck, punishment or a curse for the sins the parents must have committed. Some people see disability as witchcraft or a contagious condition that should be avoided, which leaves families who have children with disabilities alone and isolated. Most of the families live in poverty and are not able to access the few available resources for their children. The lack of readily available support and information to parents prevents them from giving their children quality care at an early age, which in turn increases the severity of the children’s condition.

The Special Children’s Trust was established to meet the needs of these parents and their children in whatever way possible, whilst also showing them the extent of the love God has for them and the family He blessed them with

Download Company Profile

WHAT WE DO

Resource Mobilisation

We provide funds and/ or in kind items, such as, food, learning resource materials, medical resources and aids and others to support the needs of individual children and their families, Institutions and Organizations.

ACCESS TO QUALITY SERVICES

Building the capacity of an organization so as to provide quality programs.

At SCT, we work towards improving access to quality education for children with disabilities at a variety of levels, including Day Care Services, Playgroup, Beginners and Catch Up Classes, Kindergarten, Primary Education, Secondary
Education, Higher Levels of Learning and Vocational Education.
We advocate for Early Years Intervention, which is important in helping children with disabilities to establish a strong foundation in basic educational skills, such as, reading, numeracy and social information about the community they live in.
We are at the forefront of championing Inclusive Education, encouraging schools to promote inclusion and create an environment where children with and without disabilities can have fun, learn and flourish together, by modelling a system that works within our own Organisation.
To promote social inclusion of youth and young adults with disabilities into society.
We provide Centre and Community based Therapy services in the form of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy.
In addition we also engage children in Behaviour Training, Sensory Stimulation and other Physical Activities.

TRAININGS AND SHARED LEARNING

Building a community of practice through innovations, collaborations and publications

SCT is dedicated to building on and expanding the knowledge base of disability for Volunteers, Interns and Students, as well as other Service Providers and Professionals including Teachers, Medical Personnel, Police and others.
We aim to hold regular trainings, workshops and seminars for students and interns undertaking internships within our Organisations, as well as be involved with teachings at Higher Learning Institutions in the country.
SCT is invested in empowering families of children with disabilities with the knowledge and information they need to assist them in understanding their child’s condition and giving their children the best possible care.
We aim to improve livelihoods and household incomes of families who have children with disabilities.
We aim to reduce mortality rate and high risks of secondary disabilities in children, as well as improve prevention of disability, through provision of Medical, Therapy, Surgical, Nutritional and Ante Natal Care Support to children with disabilities, pregnant mothers and families within the community.

PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKING

To create and establish the Special Children’s Forum, a platform for organisations and/or individuals working with children with disabilities, so as to establish unified efforts for networking and advocacy.

ADVOCACY AND AWARENESS

To engage in Awareness and Advocacy Campaigns, Media Campaigns, Government and Parliamentary Visits that fight for the rights of children with disabilities and reduce stigma and discrimination.
The Annual Awareness and Fun Day for children with disabilities is an initiative aimed at bringing people together to raise one voice, to empower families of children with
disabilities and to give the children themselves a chance to have fun and participate in sports, dance, drama and other general play activities.

Why we do what we do

We at the Special Children’s Trust believe whole heartedly that every child is a precious and unique gift that deserves to be loved, cared for and provided with an opportunity to learn, develop and grow.

More than 50% of children born with moderate to severe disabilities do not live up to their 5th birthday.
Specialised health services and equipment for children with disabilities are very few and too expensive for parents to access or afford.
According to the Ministry of Education, only 10% of children with disabilities are able to enroll into main stream school each year, and only 2.5% of them achieve the Primary School Leaving Certificate. Less than 1% of these children move on to Secondary Education and these numbers reduce further with higher levels of learning, as seen in the numbers of children with special needs who sat exams in 2023: PLE -2436, UCE -721, UACE -243.
There are many fragmented efforts of individuals / organisations working to address and champion the cause of children with disabilities.