Overseas Work
Projects
Manuel Duato, Special Needs School, Peru
| Manual Duato is a Special
Needs School which is situated in the District
of ‘Los Olivos’ in Lima. The school has its own
Board of management and is run by the Columban Missionary Society. It presently
caters for 460 students. There are 66 in
Pre-school Reception; 184 with learning
difficulties; 122 with hearing difficulties and
88 (fourteen to twenty year olds) in the
Production Workshops. The IMRS recently provided
part-funding for the construction of six
workshops with the result that skills such as
carpentry, handicraft, cookery, gardening and
self development programmes
are now available. These new skills give the
young people the opportunity to develop
their talents and eventually provide an income
for themselves and even their families. |
Katty’s story.
Born in Lima, Perú on the 6th of
October 1987 Katty is the third of five
children. Maria, her mother, says Katty was
their only planned child, so when she arrived
the parents were extremely proud. She was a
beautiful baby and at three months Maria took
her for her vaccinations.
Just before administering the
injection, the nurse commented: “Do you know
that there is a school near here for children
like your daughter?” Maria was confused by the
comment and asked the nurse what she meant. The
nurse explained that the baby had Down Syndrome.
Maria had never even heard of this term and had
no idea what it meant. The nurse called one of
the doctors who explained that Katty was fit and
healthy, but that as she grew up she would learn
much more slowly than other children.
Maria was devastated by the news
and scared for the future. She found it very
hard to accept that her child had Down Syndrome
and for years Maria’s mother, Sonia, took
responsibility for Katty’s care. It was Sonia
who had taken Katty to the Manuel Duato School
for Special Education, the very week after she
was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. The Granny
helped out in the classes with Katty until she
was 14 years old, the year Katty finished her
primary education.
That was three years ago and
since then Katty has taken part in the
Occupational Therapy Workshops in Manuel Duato,
where students learn life skills such as: making
handicrafts and jewelry, needlecraft, woodwork,
cooking and general cleaning. During these years
Maria has accompanied Katty and has learnt the
handicrafts skills alongside her daughter. When
she first went, Maria felt scared and nervous
around the other students. She did not know how
to talk to them. Now she loves them all as if
they were her own. She also says that the
support from other parents through meetings at
the School has been invaluable.
Last week the six new Workshops
were opened by the Irish Ambassador, Mr. Art
Agnew. Maria thinks the new classrooms are
excellent and says it is wonderful that the
Irish People through their Government value the
work being done with our special children.
Two years ago Katty`s father,
Miguel, lost his job and since then the family
has struggled to make ends meet. Thanks to all
the hard work at Manuel Duato, Katty has been
able to contribute to the family income by
selling the table mats and cloths that she
learnt to make at school. Katty is very proud of
her work.
After finding it hard to accept
the situation initially, Maria has seen Katty
develop into a caring, hardworking young woman.
If Manuel Duato did not exist, Katty would not
have gone to school. Maria says the
opportunities the school has given Katty saved
her family. After many hard and difficult years,
Maria says that the family and Katty are now
happy and moving towards self reliance and she
feels that Manuel Duato has played a big part in
making this possible.
(Report
provided by Fr Ed O’Connell SSC
and volunteer teacher Josephine Chambers)
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