MY ARTICLE






IT IS A TIME TO CARE AND BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PEOPLE                             WITH MENTAL HANDICAP.                                 
                                    By Alepane Mahenge
       Coming from Tanzania attending Stromme Foundation exchange program, Act Now, has exposed me to different social work here in Norway. What I have found special motivating is the care given to people with mental handicap. Volunteering at “Klubb 83”, I have learned and seen things I would like to share in this article.


KLUBB 83

Klubb 83 are run by the local church called Udland church. The idea of starting the klubb 83 came from the father of a boy with mental handicap in early  1980s. With this idea klubb 83 established in  the small town of Haugesund with the aim of connect different people who are mental handicap from different place to make them comforted and happy through various social programmes. There are 110 members in klubb 83, and they receive handicapped people with the age from 14 years and above. Handicapped people meet every Wednesday in a week and have different programs, like having dinner together, playing different games and music. Also they have one day per month for forest trip, this is so good because it makes them feel happy and loved. In Haugesund people with mental handicap they have job like knitting, washing cloth, fixing different things in the house.

Talking to one of the mental handicap people who has attended klubb 83 for 14 years i got to know that he likes being in klubb 83 because he got chance to meet and socialise with different people and making new friends
In Tanzania people with mental handicap experience a lot of isolation and discrimination especially at the family level where by they were hidden in the house and this hinder them to access a basic social service such as education. Although the Government has made various efforts concerning people with mental handicap, there is still need to adopt what klubb 83 is doing and the society must support people with mental handicap by being responsible and showing care to them, since they need people to make them happy and feel comfortable.
I am deeply convinced that education about how to value handicapped people can give positive outcome in any local community. I have seen that handicapped people are full of potential capacities and abilities. My home organisation Sustainable environment Management Action( SEMA) have different projects and programs to build local community. I am inspired to bring back what i have learned here in Klubb 83 to improve the conditions for handicapped people.





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