Support groups

Sense International East Africa has made the biggest positive impact on the lives of deafblind people by supporting local support groups.

Parents' groups

When we started supporting the Uganda Parents with Deafblind Children Association, it had just 38 members who only met once a year. Today, it boasts more than 100 members who are identifying deafblind children in their districts, raising awareness, make referrals to hospitals and schools and starting income-generating activities for families.

The organisation was first set up in 1997, but was lacking direction, in part because its member lived over such a wide geographical area. We suggested decentralising the organisation into six regional branches to make it more manageable and effective. Today, the organisation meets regularly and each branch hosts its own as well as joint activities.

Many parents have been so inspired by the organisation's success that they have approached their local governments to establish more specialist education units for deafblind children.

We are also supporting the new parents' associations in Kenya and Tanzania, which we hope to help develop further in coming years.

Deafblind peoples' groups

We are helping to build the skills and success of the Uganda Association of Deafblind People, which is one of only two support groups made up of deafblind people in the whole of Africa.

In collaboration with other non-governmental organisations, we are providing training and expertise to the association so that it can effectively lobby the government in support of the rights of deafblind people.

We are also working closely with a small Association of deafblind adults in Tanzania to identify new members and strengthen their organisation in the coming years.