In a culture where the deaf are called a curse, we believe they are a blessing to us and they can also do anything. Together we can educate them and help them succeed.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
I used to spend time helping and working with some deaf friends. During this time I became very intrigued by their level of passion and talent. I discovered they are people just like me with desires and feelings. One time I found them praising and praying to God in signs and this blew my mind away. I knew that I wanted to spend my life helping them.
One time I was doing a trip to fort-portal, taking some tourists for a trip, and I found a group of people on the street stoning a deaf child whom they had mistaken for a thief. The poor child was trying to use signs but no one could understand what he was saying because no one had ever taught him how to use sign language. The results of this event were tragic, and this poor child ended up losing his life.
I cried like I had never cried before as I pictured what happened to that child as something that could have happened to my own child…
That is the day I decided to make rescuing these children my mission.
By Ben Mulinde
FROM "0" TO "26"
......Slowly I started looking for sponsors who also care for the well being of these children, and thank God, many heard my call. At that point I didn’t have a school of my own, so I decided to send these children to public schools hoping that they would get the care that I had in mind.
Unfortunately, not everyone cared the way I care, I got reports from these poor children that they were treated differently than the other fellow students, some were even denied food and to the extreme many were sent away from school in the name of “you haven’t paid your school fees” and yet I was paying full fees for all of them.
Having no money to support them, only the money to rent a place for them, I decided to go for it no matter what. In 2018, I rented a place, went on the village media and told all the people to bring their deaf for free education. This marked the beginning of the Deaf for Christ centre.
HURDLES TO JUMP
Children who are deaf, are considered as a curse, and when this happens many of their fathers end up just running away and forsaking these women for nothing.
Being a single mom in Uganda, is something that is very difficult, and most especially when you have this kind of child with you…this means they usually can not pay school fees etc. so that all depends on us.
Due to limited accommodation and resources we are currently helping only 26 children, but we have many on the waiting list. We hope in the future to have enough space for all the deaf children who come to us.
OUR PART TO PLAY TOGETHER
Supporting Ben-Trust Travels, not only helps give these needy children a good education, but also enables them to create a future with endless possibilities.
Together we can make a difference.