Under the service of the Madam President Pameli Khayeli, we had to reach out to our community after our installation. It was the rotaract month of maternal and child health. We got a great idea to go visit an autism school that’s located in Kajiado county, Ongata Rongai, umoja road. The Autism Foundation International (TAFI) is an autism school that exists to support individuals with autism and their families and also campaigns to raise awareness of autism within the wider society. TAFI was founded and is owned by one of our rotarians Rtn Margaret Njeri Kahiu.
We visited TAFI on 19th October 2019 where we had a children’s visit and a cookout. Many rotarians and guests turned up to help out with the cooking and spending time with the kids. During the cookout, we noticed that there are some of the kids who wanted to be helpful and productive throughout the cooking session. There was this young lady possibly 20 years old who was the oldest, she loved doing chores and would help their guardians with looking after the younger kids.
As we ate and had fun with the kids , we learnt how the organization helped such children cope and lead fulfilling lives by accessing educational, recreational, spiritual, intellectual growth and development by providing care in an environment where parents of children afflicted by autism are often stigmatized by the society. The founder explained to us that they took in kids with a kind of autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) where one has impaired ability to communicate and interact. They explained that they try to regulate the disorder by limiting what the children eat and also setting up measures such as singing when a child got overwhelmed. We had a chance to sing with the kids and it was lovely to watch it calmed them down. They loved it.
Events like this when we are reaching out to the community are really heart felt are in the heart of Rotaract. The joy of seeing a smile on their faces and happiness blooming in their heart will make you continue sharing the love.
We spread it as wide as possible.
Whole heartedly.
Moureen Mukuba - Community Service Director
yippee😊
ReplyDelete