About us

The Kisoro Trust

 

The Kisoro Trust is a charity registered in Scotland which was established to raise funds towards a school for deaf children in the rural Kisoro diocese of south west Uganda. The school first opened in 2001, at which time there was no educational provision for the approximately 150 deaf and hearing impaired children of primary school age in the locality.  Few parents could afford to send their children to the next nearest special school, nine hours away by bus in Kampala. Without any education these children were unlikely to be able to gain even basic language skills and would face a very uncertain future.

 

Initially the Kisoro Trust was able to fund the establishment of a single class of 15 children for two years. However thanks to our regular donors and supporters, the school soon grew to accommodate pupils from primary one through to primary seven.

 

Since 2008 the school has been based at Kisoro Demonstration School (KDS), which is government aided and registered by the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda. A unit for children with special educational needs had already been established at KDS so it was appropriate that the deaf children could then be accommodated within such an integrated educational environment. Including the mainsteam classes, KDS currently has approximately 700 pupils, of whom around 70 have special needs and 35 are deaf, all under the guidance of Head Teacher, Nkurikiyimana Gerald.

 

Funds raised by the Kisoro Trust support the deaf Unit at the school by providing for the children outside the classroom. Many of the children's families live outside the town of Kisoro and so they require boarding accommodation and food.  In addition the Kisoro Trust provides salaries for support staff who care for the children in the deaf unit.  Funds are managed by the Kisoro District Association of the Deaf (KDAD), a number of whose members are themselves former pupils of the school.  By playing a key role in the support of the current cohort of deaf children in Kisoro, KDAD exemplifies how, when given the opportunity, disadvantaged children can thrive and go on to play a significant role in their communities.