Save the Children Indonesia welcomes IKEA Canada
Rafi, aged eight, has had a visual impairment since birth. His condition can’t be treated through surgery, medication, glasses or contact lenses.
Currently, Rafi is enrolled in grade 1 in SDN Cigugur Tengah School, Cimahi Municipality. Before being enrolled here, he had been denied access by several schools. The reasons for this included fears that accepting children with disabilities would downgrade the school accreditation, the school quota of children with disabilities being filled, and a lack of teachers able teach children with a disability.
Before being accepted at SDN Cigugur Tengah, Rafi did go to a public school for a while but was bullied by other students. However, in his new school, Rafi feels happy. “I have many friends here, they always help me in class,” he says.
SDN Cigugur Tengah has participated in the IDEAL (Inclusive Community Development and School for All) project since 2014. The project has successfully trained teachers and school communities to implement inclusive education.
The number of children with disabilities like Rafi is underrated and potentially increasing. The Human Development Report 2013 estimates that there are as many as 4.2 million children with disabilities. They are more likely to experience poor health, with limited access to adequate nutrition, clean water and health services. Their lives become even more disadvantaged with discrimination and exclusion from society.
The IDEAL project, funded by the IKEA Foundation and implemented by Save the Children in Indonesia, helps children with disabilities attain their right to education and protection by developing standards on inclusive education for West Java Province. This includes raising awareness and reducing stigma and discrimination.
Rafi is one of the children directly benefiting from the teacher training that is a part of the project. We are happy to welcome the IWitness team from IKEA Canada in April 2018 to see the change the project has made in the lives of children like Rafi.
