ILBORU SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION UNIT

Empowering Arusha's Deaf and Disabled Children

Provided with the tools to learn and succeed, the deaf and disabled children of this northern Tanzanian community are defying the longest odds.

A bustling gateway to Mount Kilimanjaro and Serengeti National Park, the Tanzanian city of Arusha also faces the challenges of systemic poverty, including an education system that is often stretched too thin. Among Arusha’s many disadvantaged children, few face longer odds than those who are deaf or disabled.

To address this urgent situation, teaching specialist Loitushui “Loy” Yamat founded the Special Needs Education Unit at the Ilboru School in 2001, shining a light of hope for the children of Arusha who need it most. While the unit made an immediate impact, it was clear that a larger facility would be needed to meet the community’s demand. In 2006, A&K Philanthropy partnered with Mr. Loy and the local community to build the Ilboru Primary School for Children with Special Needs. In short order, the school became a lifeline for Arusha’s deaf and disabled children.

“Build it and they will come,” has been said to describe the demand for services for deaf and disabled children, many of whom simply stayed at home at the family compound because there had been nowhere for them to study. AKP and Tanzania’s Ministry of Education expanded the primary and opened a secondary school in 2016, extending the special-needs curriculum while adding vocational training geared toward gainful employment for its graduates.

In the years that followed, AKP updated the school’s kitchen, built an adjoining dining hall, constructed a playground designed for children with special needs, provided sports equipment and partnered with Bootstrap Africa to build girls’ and boys’ dormitories.

Today the school serves more than 120 children, empowering them with the life skills they need for a brighter tomorrow. In 2024, AKP will continue to grow the campus with a six-classroom addition that will boost capacity to 200 students, making it by far the largest school of its kind in the district and bringing more hope to those facing the longest of odds.