Mission Rebuild Nepal picks the country's only autism school as its next project
- Published
- Reading time
- 1 min
- Written by
- MRN
- Filed under
- Education
The Special School for Disabled and Rehabilitation Centre began in 2010 with two children its founder found on the streets of Kathmandu, and the savings her family had put aside for her future.
By March 2019 it had 45 students and 26 staff, some of whom had themselves been rehabilitated at the centre. A hundred children had been moved on into society, thirty of them into inclusive placements in mainstream schools, and four had completed vocational training and were employed at SSDRC. The school charges no fees. It had received ten national and four international awards. More than four hundred children were on the waiting list, and could not be admitted because there was nowhere to put them.
Mission Rebuild Nepal announced on 7 April 2019 that SSDRC would be the recipient of the funds it raised that year. Its secretary, Ashok Oli, had visited the school, the children and the staff four days earlier.
When I saw an autistic child struggle for life on the street, I realized that my struggle was nothing compared to all the underprivileged children with special needs. I don't have any children of my own but I feel like a mother, mother of such a big family.
45
Children enrolled
As of March 2019
400+
Children on the waiting list
100
Children rehabilitated into society
$60,000
Construction target
Nine classrooms, one toilet block and a canteen
The target was set at $60,000 for nine prefabricated classrooms, a toilet block and a canteen. As at Sipapokhare, the money would move in phases against proof of completion, under a memorandum of understanding signed by both organisations.
Nepal formally recognised autism as a disorder in 2017, a change Sabita Upreti's awareness campaigning helped bring about. Before that, there was no official count of autistic children in the country, and there is still none.
