| A PRACTICAL TRAINING IN THE CARE AND REHABILITATION OF SPECIAL NEEDS AND INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED CHILDREN/YOUNG PEOPLE. |
| MENCAFEP -
Mentally Handicapped Children & Families Educational Project. |
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To provide non institutionalised care, education and social skills for disabled children and young people, through caring for them in their own communities and for them to stay and live with their families. |
Thus allowing disabled children to be cared for in their home environments, allowing them to live with their families and gain acceptance in their communities. Providing an opportunity for disabled children to interact with the whole community. |
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To relieve pressure on families caring for disabled children and to help the child and family develop, through the MENCAFEP Day Care Centre and School. |
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Therefore exposing disabled children and their families, to stimuli and experiences not normally provided for them. This will include music, exercise, constructive play, total communication, speech training, physiotherapy, social skills, vocational training, job experience and employment. |
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To prepare disabled children and their families for adulthood, through vocational training and other social programmes. |
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To educate families and communities through a home visit programme. |
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Therefore making families and communities aware, of all they have to offer disabled children, and what disabled children can offer their families and communities. |
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Helping families and communities of disabled children, understand that, embarrassment, shame, guilt are unnecessary burdens that hinder the child’s, families and communities development.. |
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Through this above process the establishment of family support groups, through which families can help each other, meet the challenges of caring for a disabled child. |
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To make MENCAFEP a resource centre for training and for supporting, other groups interested in community based rehabilitation of disabled children. |
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Outreach work to be very much encouraged in this aspect. |
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Through the above and outside resources provide on going training and learning experiences for MENCAFEP staff members. Who in addition to being teachers must serve as social workers, health care providers and friends of the child, family and community.. |
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To provide respite and community care, specifically for the profoundly disabled, when the need arises. |
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To enable MENCAFEP to belong to the community it serves. |
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methods; work with the multiple disabled, formal and informal educational techniques (including methods for the hearing impaired and blind/partially sighted), social skills and employment opportunities for young people and adults. With experience given to working with families, in their own homes and environments. |
Over the last 14 years, the idea of using MENCAFEP as a practical training resource continues to be developed. With the organisation now offering a regular hands-on training course. |
This realistic training course is seen as one of the best in South Asia. For practitioners and other interested people, wishing to learn in a useful way, that is to say, learning by doing. About working with disabled children and their families in the community, especially the mentally disabled child. |
The one weeks training course, as has been mentioned will be mainly practical with some theory input. The people joining this hands-on training course will be expected to become part of the MENCAFEP family, for the duration of the course. With them experiencing all the facets that MENCAFEP has to offer in its programme. This will include integrated pre-school |
Notebooks and writing materials will be provided on the first days meeting with the management. MENCAFEP has a small library that can be used and accessed by people attending the training course, photocopies of material are available, a charge is made for this service. |
The training is residential and trainees stay at the project. MENCAFEP has a large guest room with attached bathroom and toilet, with hot water, that can accommodate a maximum of 5 people. MENCAFEP will provide accommodation, three meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), plus morning and afternoon tea. In keeping with the MENCAFEP family ethic, people are expected to do their own cleaning and washing, along with everyday household tasks that go to maintaining their living and eating spaces clean. |
The Sri Lankan Government has and still does on a regular basis, send teachers and carers working with special needs children or planning to work with the disabled on this no-nonsense training. Over the last 14 years projects funded by Tdh-Netherlands and Tdh-Lausanne- Switzerland has sent trainees; programmes in Pakistan and University’s in Sri Lanka, India and the Netherlands have sent students, plus many NGO’s in Sri Lanka. |
This course is not only a quality experience, for those taking part in the training and the MENCAFEP project as a whole, through the training’s philosophy of sharing and giving ideas with new ways of working. It also spreads the message that special needs and intellectually challenged children/young people have the right to live in and be part of their own community, with dignity. |
The training can be devised for organisations and individuals wishing to look at a holistic training course, or specialist training, along with what the needs of persons and organisations are. The duration of the training can be for one or two weeks, one month or three to six months. Along with the training MENCAFEP also offers on-the-job visits, with advice and supervision for organisations and individuals that have completed a training course. |
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| BUDGET/COSTS FOR PRACTICAL TRAINING COURSE - Negotiable. |
| BUDGET/COSTS FOR ON-THE-JOB VISITS, WITH ADVICE AND SUPERVISION.- Negotiable. |
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| Due to the prevailing economic situation budget and costs are continually under review. |
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| Photographs and Articles by: Chris Stubbs |
