Inbal Alon was an Aga Khan Foundation Canada intern placed with the Zanzibar Madrasa Resource Centre, Zanzibar, through CIDA’s International Youth Internship Program.
Riziki Emmanuel is a disabled child from the village of Kiboje, on Unguja Island, Zanzibar. She’s five years old but cannot walk or use her legs. Her parents, Thomas Emmanuel and Klemensia Koa, who have two other children, have always carried her around and have created areas in the house where she can crawl on the floor or lean on objects for support, but they have been unable to afford either medical treatment or crutches to help Riziki move on her own.
While they knew it was important to send their disabled child to school, as farmers they had neither the time nor money to take Riziki to the nearest school, in the neighboring village. As a result, Riziki stayed at home most days, isolated from others, and her mental development lagged.
But Riziki’s life changed when the Kiboje community got involved with the Madrasa Resource Centre (MRC), a project supported by Aga Khan Foundation Canada and Mradi wa Kuendeleza Elimu Zanzibar, to open a community-owned preschool.
Ismailimail 