The children came

to Hope House. They are brought by their parents seeking help in raising a child with special needs, a difficult task in any society but compounded by tough living conditions here in central Nigeria. As the pictures will show, the love of the child by the parent is very evident. Here is a couple of human interest stories of how the low vision conference is helping families.

The child care team of Anne and Barb worked with the children, aka 'playing' and teaching the parents ways to help the child develop skills. They brought with them books and toys of all colors, shapes, and sizes, which is surprisingly missing in many children's lives here.
Anne said she is going to visit the kitchen pantry to improvise / fashion some toys from can goods or what ever she may find. Come to think of it, I rarely see children in any typical activities other than soccer and that is with an improvised ball. No hide and seek, no trucks or cars in the dirt, no dolls, no make believe, and none playing with a pet animal. But I do see many on the streets selling peanuts or fruit that they carry on their heads. Apparently it is survival and no time for play........

Barb is 'playing' with a child who has albinism and is 19 months old. She started by using balls to determine at what distance she can 'see' or focus. Next she used an Elmo book that has big shapes and bright colors for her to look at. There is a high probability that this child has never had a book before. The black mat on the floor provides a high contrast for the child to see the toys.

This 8 year old girl traveled with her mother and grandmother from
Abuja, a 4 hour drive. She attends a school for the blind in Abuja and is a very good student. Having very limited sight, she has to put things within inches of her eyes to make any thing out. There is a possibility that surgery could restore her sight but the risks of losing what little sight she has if things go wrong has made the surgery unacceptable. Hope House has offered to have her stay during the summer school vacation period and learn how to use computers to accelerate her learning.

I'm proud to be a part of this good work......................................