Background
According to World Health Organization (WHO), persons with disabilities in developing countries such as Kenya, form 15% of the country’s total population. 56% of Kenyan Population is currently living under the poverty line i.e. with incomes of less than one dollar a day. This results in hunger, malnutrition, inaccessible basic health services, and more, which are the major causes of disorders in brain development. As a result, the population of people with mental disabilities in Kenya form 60 – 70% of the total population of the disabled. Around 2.9 million Kenyan people are currently living with a mental disability or a mental disability.
A person with a mental disability faces extra challenges in his life. The attitude and response from relatives, peers and community will strongly influence his development. However, communities and families are confronted with many difficulties including poverty, illiteracy, lack of resources, violence, and many more. This makes an appropriate response to disability quite difficult. People with a mental disability are often associated with black magic and witchcraft. Families tend to hide children with a mental disability out of shame or despair. Often they lock their children in their homes and, as has been reported by the Down Syndrome Society of Kenya and the Kenya Society for Mentally Handicapped, sometimes even in cages. As a result, instead of positively being engaged, a person with a mental disability is often confronted with negative attitudes right from birth, like isolation, rejection and even abuse. Most people with a mental disability have a mild to moderate mental retardation. However, they can learn and are capable of developing skills throughout their lives.
They have a wide range of talents that are can be discovered at any moment in their childhood. People often overemphasize the limitations that the disability brings along and do not see the possibilities that every person has. One of the major shortcomings of the current educational system for (young) adults with a mental disability is that they are too old to be enrolled in a primary school, but mentally not capable to attend a normal secondary school. Currently there are 734 primary schools with special units for children with a mental disability until the age of around 16 years. After primary school a lot of these children drop out of school because there is no place for them to go. The result is that they again have to stay home where they often are left idle. Establishing a training center for this group, gives them and their parents hope for a better future.
Marianne Center is a foundation that is registered on the 4th of April 2008. This training center is established to focus on the (young) adults from the age of 16 till 50 years. Marianne Center is named after Marianne, the sister in law of our board member Nelie. We wish for mentally disabled people in Kenya to have the same opportunities and inclusion in the society as Marianne receives in her life.