We are a group of Rwandan parents and friends of children with disabilities. In the past, we all faced the same difficulty of finding appropriate social and learning opportunities for our children. In Rwandan culture, children with disabilities are sadly often hidden from their community and schools which will accept these children simply did not exist. This is why we banded together to form the Association des Parents et Amis des Enfants Vivant avec le Handicap Sevère (APEH), and worked together to create Rwanda’s first school for children with serious physical disabilities, Heroes School.

At the core, our association believes that children with disabilities—like all children—need attention, care, warmth, and dedication from their learning environment. They have the right to an education; they must have the opportunity to develop their cognitive, social, emotional and physical skills. They are entitled to be educated, achieve their own goals, to be autonomous, and have a full place in society.

In 2015, we opened the doors of Heroes School to our first seven students. At the time, we had very big dreams and very little money. Since that time, we have not only expanded our student population 10-fold, but we have opened a second location in another area of Kigali, Heroes Inclusive Centre. This has allowed us to fill a vital need for children with severe disabilities and their families. Prior to coming to Heroes, many of these children would stay locked in their houses due to both a lack of family resources and stigma. In many cases these are children who have normal intelligence, and it is only their physical disability, such as cerebral palsy, that limits their ability to participate in mainstream education. Teaching these children is our passion, and at Heroes we now have a range of staff that includes teachers, special education teachers, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. We also provide a nutritious meal program for students who would otherwise have very little to eat.

We have also engaged in national-level advocacy within Rwanda and have performed home visits across the country to help families and educate our communities about children with disabilities. Our funding now comes from a range of both government and private sources, with many international donors. Despite our growth, there are still many children we would like to serve. As a result, we are striving to grow our resource base to be able to reach all of the children in Rwanda that could use our help.