Schools/programs for kids with physical disabilities

Hello,

There are not very many!  Children with physical disabilities are not well catered for in Kenya.  Off the top of my head, I can think of Joytown School near Thika.  There is also a church based organisation in Nyeri, Metropolitan Sanctuary.  I also understand that there is a facility in Mombasa.

I may well be tough to find a job.  Reasons; your husband will get a work permit, which will entitle you to a Dependents Pass.  However, work is prohibited with this pass and this may well mean voluntary as well as paid work.

If you want to work in your own right, you will need to register with the Kenya Medical Association.  This usually means doing a 12 month internship at a public hospital.  It used to be possible to do this concurrently to your regular job, but not sure how it is now.

Then you will need to secure a job, which means that your prospective employer will need to apply for a work permit for you.  It doing this, the employer needs to evidence that the position cannot be filled from within the Kenyan labour market.............and there are plenty of qualified physiotherapists who are unemployed here and the government are in the process of cracking down somewhat on foreign workers who are in jobs that Kenyans can do. 

Its a difficult market to break into, for foreigners and most have gone the route of setting up their own businesses and working in private practice, for which you need a lot of capital in order to qualify for the relevant permit.

I am an OT and with my residence permit, I can do unpaid work only and to keep myself current, I help out at Metropolitan Sanctuary.  However, on many occasions I go and there isn't much for me to actually do and on two or three recent occasions, no children have turned up.

Hello Jeniffer,

There is one school called Oshwal Academy, Nairobi, where they have a special needs department which takes care of children with special needs. This school is located in Parklands area.

Also there is another school called Kenya Community Centre for Learning which is a school entirely for special needs children located next to TRM Mall (Thika Road Mall). This school is run entirely by parents so any volunteer work is also much appreciated.

You may be able to find contacts once you are in Nairobi, via the respective websites of the 2 schools listed above.

All the best.