Uwezo Strategic Planning Retreat

February 20, 2024

The Uwezo Network for Persons with Disabilities CBO was registered with the Ministry of Social Services on 22 June 2021.  Uwezo’s objectives include creating a supportive environment for persons with disabilities, especially children, focusing on health, education, and socio-economic empowerment; and facilitating quality and compulsory education for all persons with disabilities.  Sunrise School for Autistic Learners is one of Uwezo's projects. Prior to Sunrise's opening, there were very few educational opportunities for this particular group of students in western Kenya.  Sunrise opened with just four students; since then, enrollment has now increased to seventeen learners.  

Now that Uwezo has had several "learning years," the need has arisen for strategic planning in order to further define a future vision, identify specific goals and objectives, and create a timeline for achieving them.  For this reason, early this year, a group of Network members met to embark on the process of strategic planning.  Representatives from each of Uwezo's four committees (Health, Child Protection, Education, and Economic Empowerment) met for two days and worked together to consider strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and to begin drafting short- and long-term objectives.  

The work of strategic planning will continue in upcoming months.  Because Sunrise is a major project of Uwezo, the school will certainly be a central focus of the strategic planning process.  Be on the look-out for updates here on our website.  

Visiting Sunrise School - July 2023

After bouncing along from Nairobi for nine hours, eight women from the United States arrived in Mumias to work with the staff and children at Sunrise School for Autistic Learners on July 12. Three are members of Uwezo, the “umbrella” Community-Based Organization (CBO) for Sunrise including Wanda Salter and Marjie Ottenbreit, both from Vermont, and Rev. Dr. Karen Nell Smith from Edwards Church in Massachusetts.  Shelley Sedwick, an occupational therapist from Arizona, Rev. Dr. Fran Bogle, Rev. Dr. Debbie Clark, and Peggy Harrison – all from Edwards Church in Massachusett, and Michelle Ottenbreit,  a talented artist from Butte, Montana (and Marjie’s daughter), completed our team.

Marjie, who is a newly-retired special education teacher, was making her fourth visit to Sunrise. She came with files full of activities to help the teachers work with the learners as well as TouchMath curriculum materials to introduce.  Marjie designed wall cabinets to be constructed for the storage of the teaching materials the group brought to the school and funded the repurposing of the library/AT room to incorporate therapy space for speech-language and OT.

It was Shelley’s first visit to Kenya and the Sunrise School. She provided LessonPix training to Sunrise’s occupational therapist and speech-language therapy assistant. Shelley and Marjie both stayed for Parent’s Day events on July 15,  and Shelley gave a presentation to the parents and staff about sensory processing. She also shared her own story as a parent of a child with autism.  Another project Shelley assisted with was designing a therapy space with a swing where students can spend some quiet time if needed.

Michelle, who has visited Sunrise before, designed and painted a beautiful sunrise mural in the school’s dining room and worked with some of the teachers and leaders of the school on various projects.  Michelle also visited a nearby school for deaf students and had fun visiting with old friends.

Debbie, who is a certified Yoga instructor as well as Pastor of Edwards Church, introduced students and staff to the practice of Yoga movements that can help as a  coping mechanism in times of stress. She worked with the teachers so they could continue to teach and benefit from these movements after our departure. Debbie also created an instructional video for ongoing learning. In the future, as the children become more comfortable practicing yoga, she will provide additional advanced videos. We love remembering that the students loved the Hands to Heart action best

Fran, who has fun with photography, took pictures of the school and Cottage, each child, their classroom, school staff,  and fun activities . Working with Florence, the speech-language assistant, they created a  photo communication book  for each learner to take home, allowing them to share about their school experiences with their families and friends. We are sharing some of Fran’s photos with you today.

Karen Nell, Debbie and Peggy worked with the learners and staff to create quilted centerpieces for the student’s  tables at home. Those who were able traced their own  hands which were then transferred to cloth and onto the placemats.

Boaz, a local tailor and Sunrise’s recently-hired vocational assistant, did the stitching on a recently-donated sewing machine. Each learner was given their own handprint placemat to bring home to their family. This amazing group also used the handprints to make quilted potholders that will be sold to raise funds for the school.  Now that Boaz is on staff, he will teach Sunrise students how to help him continue to create these potholders in the future.

We had a wonderful time meeting new friends, sharing with old friends, learning, growing, drinking tea and eating samosas and ground nuts, holding chickens, meeting “Sellar” the newborn calf, laughing, and sharing gentle days with the learners and staff at Sunrise. Enjoy the photos and keep a look out for more reflections!