This young woman recently graduated from the school for children with disabilities run by one of CAPDA’s partner organisations. With the DAP grant, CAPDA presented her with a set of gardening tools which will allow her to make the most of the vocational skills she has learnt at the school. Under their continued supervision, she has now established a small market garden growing vegetables that will be sold at the local market.

The grant enabled the school to expand its vocational gardening program, which has taken off since CAPDA first became involved in February 2013.

CAPDA’s work in Moshi over the past 6 months has gone from strength to strength, with a truly amazing amount of activity having a real impact on the quality of life of many children in the Moshi area. With the support of funding from the Australian Government’s Direct Action Program, and in partnership with five disability care agencies in Tanzania, CAPDA has provided:

• Week-long live-in intensive courses of therapy and support for disabled children and their parents. The children were assessed and treated by a paediatrician and other health professionals, and parents and carers were given the opportunity to share their experiences and learn new strategies for caring for the children
• Upgraded schoolrooms and playgrounds to provide better, healthier environments
• Much-needed teaching resources, including desks, chairs and play equipment
• Cupboards, cooking equipment and mosquito nets
• Important disability equipment, including supported chairs, wheelchairs, cupboards, waterproofed mattresses and standing frames
• Gardening equipment, allowing several vocational education programs to flourish.

In May we received welcome news – the AusAID application we’d made in November 2012 for development project funds was successful! This grant of $75,000, augmented by CAPDA fundraising, will support local action from now until October 2014 to:

1. Build local disability workforce capacity through seminars for day care workers, courses for community rehabilitation workers and specialist skills development for paediatricians and surgical nurses.
2. Build family and community capacity through engagement in community gardens, chicken and goat projects; vocational training for young people with disabilities; and action to increase community awareness of disability issues.
3. Build disability organisation capacity to manuafacture, supply and maintain disability aids; plan income-generating projects and services for future sustainability; and build strategic partnerships for funding training and advocacy.

Local action in each of these areas is already well underway.

A series of projects funded by a sizeable grant from South Australian energy company Beach Energy is being rolled out by CAPDA in northern Tanzania.

The grant has already been used to provide advanced training for two paediatricians and three nurses in surgical procedures to help children with spina bifida. Children born with this condition often suffer from hydrocephalus, and, if left untreated, this leads to a build-up of fluid and pressure on the brain.

Hydrocephalus can cause permanent brain damage and loss of function, and in extreme cases the head can become so large the person cannot hold it up. A simple shunt can be inserted to drain the fluid and relieve pressure on the brain. Sadly, in developing countries many children still die of hydrocephalus and on the operating table. During the training, procedures  were carried out to treat eight children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, all of them successful!

The inaugural Beach Energy Scholarship was awarded to Albert Chaki (above), an Occupational Therapist from Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation Tanzania (CCBRT). Albert has impressed us over the years with his skill and dedication, and we are delighted to support his further studies in Community Development. Future projects led by Albert will support children with disabilities by improving nutrition, reducing family poverty and social stigma.

The Beach Energy grant will also be used to purchase wheelchairs, design seating solutions and support 9 of CCBRT’s live-in week-long intensive therapy and training workshops in 2013. Each workshop allows 25 children and their carers from rural villages to receive assessment, treatment and information from a range of health professionals.