By John Majau
Parents of children living with disability have been urged to take their children to school instead of chaining them and hiding them from the public.
Speaking during a sensitization exercise dubbed “Boresha Maisha ya Mama Mlemavu project” at Meru School for the Mentally Challenged, SITE enterprise promotion manager Elizabeth Katuba said such children have a right to education just like any other normal child.
‘Children with special needs should be taken to special schools where their talents can be discovered and nurtured. It is a criminal offence to chain such children.’ She said.
Currently, Meru County has the highest number of persons living with disability in the country.
Katuba challenged parents from the region to ignore witchcraft claims on their family lineages.
‘We are collaborating with the Kenya Union for the Blind and are funded by the European Union to train mothers with such children on kitchen gardening and soap manufacturing for sustenance,” she said.
Katuba told parents to join or form groups to benefit from state grants and scholarships.
Special programmes chief officer Ngare Kimathi said the county government had established PWDs Saccos and allocated Shs 10 million for their empowerment.
Earlier on, stakeholders decried the rising cases of mental health illness in Meru.
Speaking during the launch of Harmony Therapy Centre, Imenti South MP Kathuri Murungi urged residents to stop the stigma against families of the affected people.
Kathuri said there are very few hospitals that deal with mental health issues.
“I only know Mathari Hospital. I used to go to Murang’a for these services. It’s unfortunate that families take their loved ones to India and pay Shs 2 million but do not support those affected by mental illness,” he said.
Kathuri pointed out that in every two out of three families, there is a very needy mental health patient.
